


Spring Equinox

by Darkladyknight



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anal Sex, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Masturbation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:01:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9778082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkladyknight/pseuds/Darkladyknight
Summary: Cole Danner had led a pretty normal life, trying to keep his ranch above the red, while he raised his daughter. But what happens when he finds a beaten boy in his barn, one that has no memory of who he is or where he came from?





	1. Chapter 1

Spring Equinox  
Chapter One  
XXXXX

“Pa?” the little girl’s voice was confused.

“I’m busy, Rainie,” Cole Danner said to his daughter, he glanced up before he went back to work. “Go get your school bag.”

“But Pa,” the little girl’s voice was strained.

“Rainie, go get your school bag,” Cole shifted around the horse he was grooming. He had to finish this, before the woman who owned the horse got there at ten to pick it up.

“But Pa,” Rainie pleaded as Cole turned angry eyes onto his daughter.

Cole clenched his teeth, trying to keep from yelling. It was hard being a single parent; especially when said child was not listening. “Rainie, get your school bag before the bus comes.”

“Look,” Rainie was pointing to Dragon’s Fire’s stall, the large black horse snorted his head bobbing up and down at he too stared at Cole. In the corner, barely visible to them, was a figure. Cole couldn’t make out much as he moved to the stall. He turned his attention back to his horse, an animal that would rather stomp you into the ground than let you get close. Slipping into the stall, he gently reached out to touch Dragon’s Fire’s snout, hoping the horse hadn’t already stomped the person to death.

Turning back to the person, Cole made his way slowly. Reaching out he touched one pale cold shoulder, and then he let his hand slide to the pale exposed neck to check for a pulse. 

“Pa?” Rainie spoke quietly from outside the stall.

“He’s alive,” Cole shifted the boy, cringing when he saw that what he at first thought was a shadow was in fact bruising. It looked as if someone had beaten the hell out of him.

“He must be cold,” Rainie muttered and Cole had to nod his agreement. The boy was wearing a tank top and a pair of torn threadbare jeans that had seen better days. Even though it was spring, it was early spring and it was still cold. Shrugging his jacket off, Cole moved to wrap it around the slender body. Picking him up, he was surprised to find the boy weighed nearly nothing.

Cole carried him out, letting his eyes scan the pale battered face; he needed to figure out how badly he was hurt. He glanced up to see his daughter was watching them with worried hazel-green eyes as she pushed the stall door closed. He placed the boy onto a bale of hay; he let his eyes scan the body for any other injuries. He knew though, just by looking at the pale skin and the cold temperature of the boy’s body, he was most likely close to hypothermic, they had to take him to the hospital.

“Rainie, run up to the house and get my truck keys,” he said seeing the little girl bolt from the barn, he yelled after her. “And your school bag!”

Shaking his head, he gathered him up again to start towards his truck. He knew he’d have to call Mrs. Whilom and let her know that her horse wouldn’t be ready. There was nothing he could do about it other than leave the boy out to die, and he couldn’t do that. Getting him into the passenger side of his truck, he glanced down to see the school bus just turning onto the dusty road.

“Rainie, hurry up, the bus is coming!” Cole yelled toward the house, he saw the girl run back out, a pink backpack dragging behind her. Shaking his head, he took his keys from her, before helping her place the backpack on properly. He then ushered her toward the end of their driveway where the bus was just coming to a stop. Cole glanced at the truck before walking with his daughter towards the bus.

“Morning, Mr. Danner,” the bus driver said in her cheery voice.

“Morning, Vera,” Cole nodded as he knelt down to kiss his daughter. He could see her glance back at the truck, her eyes still worried. “Go to school, Rainie, it’ll be alright.”

“Okay, Pa,” Rainie hugged her father before she climbed onto the bus. 

“Something wrong?” Vera asked, frowning at the normally excited kindergartener that was currently moping along the aisle.

“Nope, just one of the help sprained an ankle this morning, I’m gonna take him over to the hospital,” Cole smiled as he told the lie. He didn’t know why, but the bruising on the boy’s face made him think twice about telling people he had found a strange unconscious boy in his barn.

“Well, okay,” the woman nodded before pulling the door to the bus closed. Cole stood watching as the large yellow bus slowly pulled away. Turning back to his truck, he crossed the space to climb into the driver’s side. He checked on his passenger to see if he had stirred at all, seeing that he was still unconscious he started the truck and turned it towards town.

XXXXX

Cole sat in the hard waiting room chair, leaning slightly forward, his hat in his hands while his elbows rested on his knees. He glanced up when he heard people walk by; wishing again that he was back on ‘painted D’ doing what he had to do to make ends meet. Of course Mrs. Whilom wasn’t thrilled, but the woman gave him until 2pm to get it done.

“Cole?” looking up, Cole stood as the doctor approached him.

“How is he, Dr. Haze?” Cole asked twisting his hat in his hands.

“Well, he was nearly hypothermic when you brought him in, but nothing is broken,” the doctor turned, leading Cole back towards the emergency rooms.

“Okay,” Cole nodded as he followed after the man, “So what has he told you? He is awake isn’t he?”

“Yeah, about that…” Dr. Haze stopped outside a room, his pale brown eyes watching Cole closely. “He’s not making a whole lot of sense.”

“What?” Cole shook his head, his eyes on the doctor waiting for the man to elaborate.

“He doesn’t seem to remember who he is,” Dr. Haze went to move into the room, he glanced back at Cole before walking behind the curtain making Cole follow.

“Crap,” Cole muttered as he stepped into the small room, he looked at the person on the bed. He was pale against the white sheets, except for the curly black hair spread out on the pillow. Cole felt his breath catch as he shifted, moving to look at him. Periwinkle blue eyes met his, the boy’s forehead creased with a frown.

“How are you feeling, son?” the doctor asked moving to the boy’s bedside.

“Better, I guess,” the soft voice answered back as those eyes turned to the doctor. Cole clinched his jaw before he glanced between the doctor and the boy.

“Good, good,” the doctor nodded, “This is the man that brought you in.”

“Oh,” he whispered, those eyes coming back to Cole. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Cole nodded slightly. “Doc, can I talk to you?”

“Sure, Cole,” Dr. Haze followed Cole out of the room.

“I can go, right?” Cole stated softly, shaking his head at the man. He had done his good deed, now it was time for him to return to his ranch and forget about the man in the bed.

“Sure, But you’ll be back?” The doctor raised an eyebrow at him as Cole started away, only to stop. “When we release him?”

“Why would I come back?” Cole inquired glancing around at the others in the emergency room. His hands tightened on his hat nearly crushing the thing.

“Aren’t you going to take him home with you?” Dr. Haze looked confused as he watched the rancher.

“Why?” Cole shook his head, there was no way he could have that person in his house. He took a step away from the doctor, shaking his head again.

“Cole, if you leave him here and he can’t remember, then we’ll have to send him up to the psyche ward,” Dr. Haze shook his head before he glanced down at the chart he was holding. 

“But… doc, please… you know I can’t,” Cole tried, but saw the man look up at him again.

“Listen, I’ve done all that I can do for him,” he said, “He can’t stay here.”

Cole clinched his jaw, before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew, deep down that he wouldn’t be able to leave the boy here, not if he was facing the psyche ward. Of course he didn’t want the boy underfoot either, but well, maybe it would help the boy remember. “All right, tell me everything.”

“Well first off, there is a strange tattoo on the boy’s leg,” the doctor nodded as he stepped back into the room. He saw his patient look up, the boy smiling slightly. He moved to the bed and slowly moved the blanket to expose the boy’s right leg and calf.

“What is it?” Cole asked, his eyes only glancing at it for a second.

“Not sure, a plant of some sort?” Dr. Haze frowned; he glanced over as a nurse stepped into the room. 

“Hey, it’s a vinca vine,” she smiled as she set a bundle of folded clothes down.

“Vinca?” Cole asked frowning having heard of the plant before.

“What?” the young man glanced up, his eyes on Cole. For several long moments they both stared at each other before the doctor finally moved closer to the boy.

“Vinca?” Dr. Haze grinned as him turned to him, an eyebrow raised in question. “Is that your name?”

“I… um… well, I don’t know, but it seems familiar,” he glanced at Cole again, before he looked back at the doctor.

“It’s tattooed on your leg,” Cole muttered finding that this was a bad idea. He should have dropped him off at the emergency room door and went home.

“Well, Vinca it is for now,” Dr. Haze seemed to be delighted that they had something to call the young man. “Get dressed and Cole is going to take you home.”

“Okay,” Vinca looked over at Cole, “You know who I am?”

“No,” Cole crossed his arms over his chest, he glared at the boy. “You were in my barn.”

“Cole,” Dr. Haze shook his head as he shooed Cole out of the room, he glanced up at the man again. “Listen, I’m not sure what you want to do, but I’m going to have the police run this tattoo through, because something like this isn’t going to be common.”

“All right, but, well,” Cole took a deep breath before he plunged along, “with the bruising and stuff, I want to be careful, maybe he’s running from someone.”

“Yeah, I figured as much, so I called Randy,” the doctor stated. “He’s coming to take a statement, and then we’ll go from there.”

“Okay,” Cole started to pace the corridor while he waited for Randy to show up.

XXXXX

“You pacing for a reason, Cole?” Sheriff Randall Hackett grinned as the rancher turned to him.

“I was waiting for you,” Cole replied. “Where have you been, we’ve been here for hours.”

“Aw Cole, didn’t know you missed me,” the sheriff moved towards the room that Cole had been pacing in front of.

“I didn’t miss you,” Cole hissed following him. “I have a ranch to run; I don’t have time to stand around the fricken hospital.”

“Then why are you here?” Randy asked turning to him.

“Doc said I have to take him home with me, or they’re gonna send him up to the mental ward,” Cole muttered as he stared down at his hat.

“Then why are you here?” Randy asked again.

“I can’t let him go up to the mental ward!” Cole bit out between clenched teeth. He groaned when he saw Randy smile, the sheriff turning back to head into the room. With a shake of his head, Cole followed after him. He saw Vinca turn his attention to them.

“Hello, I’m Sheriff Randall Hackett,” Randy stepped forward to shake the boy’s hand. “I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Alright,” Vinca nodded; his soft voice surprising the sheriff.

“The doc said you can’t remember who you are?” Randy asked, seeing Vinca nod. “Can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?”

“I um… I remember,” Vinca kept his eyes down, a frown on his face. “I can remember waking up cold, wondering in the dark and then I found a building,” Vinca paused, his eyes going to Cole. “I was just looking for someplace warm; I was so cold and tired.”

“It’s okay,” Randy glanced back at Cole to see the rancher was glaring at Vinca. “Do you remember anything else?”

“It’s fuzzy, I remember hearing voices and pain, but I think that was before,” Vinca dropped his eyes again. “When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was, I was alone…”

“It’s okay,” Randy moved closer to the hospital bed. “I’d like to get a picture, if that’s okay.”

Vinca shrugged. He looked up as Randy pulled out a camera, the sheriff quickly snapping a picture of Vinca.

“If I need anything else, I’ll come out to the ranch,” Randy turned to Cole, moving out of the room he knew the rancher followed him. “If I hear anything I’ll let you know.”

“Fine,” Cole nodded; he could hear the nurse that had entered the room helping him dress. He knew that she went to find clothing, since the boy couldn’t leave in what he had been brought in.

XXXXX

Cole glanced over the horse’s back, his eyes finding Vinca, who was pacing the barn. Vinca was wrapped in his old jean jacket, and the clothes the hospital gave him. He hadn’t really said anything since leaving the hospital; he just stared out at the ranch.

 

Turning Cole saw a truck pulling a horse trailer behind it turn into his driveway. Finishing one last stroke of the brush to the horse’s neck, he set the brush down and led the horse toward the barn doors. He glanced back, realizing that he couldn’t find Vinca and frowned.

“Cole,” the woman’s voice cut through his head.

“Hello, Mrs. Whilom,” Cole smiled slightly.

“Is my horse ready?” she asked moving towards him, Cole nodded, moving to lead the horse to the trailer that the driver of the truck had opened. He glanced back, seeing the woman heading into the barn and he wanted to call out. Once the animal was loaded, he turned and headed into the barn.

“Your horse is loaded, Mrs. Whilom,” Cole let his eyes scan the barn, but he didn’t see Vinca anywhere. His eyes swung to Dragon’s Fire’s stall when the woman took a step towards it. The horse gave a loud snort, shifting in the stall. The woman took a step back, her eyes wide as she watched the horse.

“You really should get rid of that beast,” the woman shook her head before she turned to hand Cole a check.

“I like my horse,” Cole smiled as he took the check and nodded to the woman. He followed her out of the barn, glancing back when his horse whinnied softly. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” she said getting into the truck. Cole watched until the truck pulled away, his eyes following until it turned down the dusty road. With a sigh he turned back to the barn and went in search of the boy.

“Where are you?” he asked softly, although he already had an idea.

“That woman was scary,” Vinca replied from where he was standing in Dragon’s Fire’s stall. Small hands gently stroked the horse’s neck, large periwinkle eyes watched him.

“Well she’s gone, so come out,” Cole stated, not sure he liked the idea that his horse liked the boy. Dragon’s Fire didn’t like anyone normally and this just proved that Cole couldn’t have him here.

“I think I’ll stay here,” Vinca glanced over, his eyes tracking Cole as the man moved.

“Suit yourself, I’m heading into the house,” Cole stated knowing the he would follow; Vinca hadn’t wanted to be left alone in the house, that had led to the pacing in the barn. Turning, a smile came to his face as he heard the boy following behind him. Entering the house, he headed towards his office, seeing Vinca had stopped just inside the doorway.

Dropping into his chair behind his desk, he saw the boy pass by his door as he turned his attention to the check in his hand. Frowning slightly, he pulled out his check book, knowing he was going have to go to the bank. But he wouldn’t leave him here and he wasn’t sure he’d get Vinca back into his truck.

Cole glanced up one last time before he put thoughts of Vinca from his mind. He picked up the phone to start work on trying to get his business running better. With Rainie now in school, he had more free time and he was going to use it to his advantage. For several hours, he lost himself in his work.

Pushing away from his desk, Cole frowned when he saw the school bus heading down the road. He hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. Moving through the house, he checked each room to find out where Vinca had gone. He found the boy curled up on the sofa sleeping.

Walking out onto the porch, he waved to the bus driver as the woman waited for Rainie to exit the bus. He watched as his daughter came running down the drive, a huge smile on her face. As she neared he called out asking about her day.

“It was great, we learned about spring,” she gushed coming up the stairs.

“Do you have homework?” he asked smiling as he moved to open the screen door. He led the way into the house and to the kitchen.

“No homework,” Rainie grinned dropping her backpack to climb up onto a kitchen chair. She watched as Cole moved around the kitchen to get her an after school snack. “So um, where is he?”

“Sleeping,” Cole moved to start supper, a smile finding his face as he listened to Rainie’s day at school.

XXXXX

Vinca shifted, pulling the blanket closer around himself before he opened his eyes. He let his eyes scan the room, not really recognizing it, but then again he wouldn’t know it even if it was his own home. Sitting up, he took a deep breath finding out that something smelled really good. Pushing the blanket aside, he stood and headed the way the smell was coming from.

Vinca paused in the doorway, his eyes going from the man standing at the oven, to the little girl that was sitting at the table. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Cole glanced over, a small smile coming to his face as his daughter turned to look. “I see you’re finally awake, have a seat.”

“Thanks,” Vinca blushed slightly as he took the chair the little girl indicated.

“My name is Rainie,” she said wiggling in her chair with a grin.

“I um…” Vinca glanced at Cole, seeing he was frowning slightly.

“Rainie this is Vinca, he’s going to be staying with us for a while,” Cole said as he moved to pull the casserole out of the oven.

“How come you were in the barn?” Rainie asked frowning at him.

“I don’t know,” Vinca shrugged slightly as he folded his hands in his lap and dropped his head slightly. 

“But…” Rainie started.

“Rainie, leave him alone, he doesn’t remember who he is,” Cole explained as he set the casserole onto the table. He started to dish the plates. They ate in silence for several long tense moments, before Rainie sighed and looked at her father.

“How can he not remember, Pa?” she glanced at the guest, making Vinca wish he was still sleeping.

“I don’t know, kiddo, but we’ll help him okay?” Cole watched the boy’s cheek redden again; he pulled his eyes away before looking down at his plate. 

“Okay,” Rainie giggled slightly as she happily munched on her supper. 

Vinca ate slowly, finding that his stomach wasn’t up to much food. Pushing the food around, he glanced at the clock to see it was just after six in the evening. He looked up, startled when he felt eyes on him, seeing Cole was watching him with a frown. “Sorry, I’m um… not sure when the last time I ate was.”

“It’s okay, eat what you can,” Cole frowned again, wishing he knew a little bit more about the boy. The doctor couldn’t say much, other than that he was dehydrated some, besides being nearly hypothermic. He wasn’t underweight per se, just really slender. Besides, the bruising said that the beating hadn’t taken place all that long ago. As soon as the meal was done, Cole pushed his plate away and stood. “I have to get the horses in.”

He glanced between the two at the table, his eyes landing hard on Vinca. He tried to gauge if he felt good enough about the boy to leave his daughter in his company alone. After staring into those oh so blue eyes he finally nodded and turning left the house. The screen door slamming shut behind him.

Vinca watched the man go, his eyes wide before he turned to look at the little girl. Her silky brown hair feathered around her face, and she had the same color eyes as her father. Pulling his eyes away, he saw that he could be useful and put things away. Getting up he started to gather up the dishes from the table, very aware that Rainie was watching him.

As he started the dishes, he searched for a container to put the left over casserole in. Once found, he put everything away before starting on the dishes. Vinca glanced over as the girl left the room, frowning as he heard noise as tiny feet pounded up the stairs, before he heard them coming back down. He saw her slide back into her chair, a book placed on the table. 

“Read with me?” Rainie asked, seeing him look at her.

“Okay,” Vinca placed the last plate into the drying rack before he went back to the table. He waited as she opened the book, a smile on her face as she started to read, pausing every now and then to look at Vinca for help with a word. Vinca soon found himself lost in the reading, glad that at least he hadn’t forgotten how to read, even if he couldn’t remember who he was.

XXXXX

Pulling his hat and then coat off, Cole hung them up, pausing as he leaned to pull his boots off. He could hear Rainie reading in the kitchen, the quiet voice of Vinca helping with words that the little girl missed. Leaving his boots by the door he paused in the doorway of the kitchen to watch them. Vinca’s head was close to Rainie’s, as they both stared at the book. He noticed the kitchen table had been cleared and the dishes were done.

Finally stepping into the room, he moved to start a kettle of water. Cole pulled three cups from the cupboard, putting them on the counter he pulled a canister closer to open it. He could feel the eyes on his back, he knew that Rainie knew what he was doing, but Vinca wouldn’t. With a smile he started to hum low, a good feeling settling into his stomach. He spooned the cocoa mix into the cups, adding water when it was hot enough.

“Here,” Cole said as he set a cup in front of the boy and one in front of his daughter. Grabbing his, he sat across from them watching as Rainie happily sipped at hers.

“Thank you for the cocoa,” Vinca glanced up with a small smile before turning his eyes back to the book.

Cole grinned; he couldn’t help it as he watched them. The boy’s quiet ways seem to compliment his daughter’s happy bubbly personality. Taking a sip of his cocoa, he couldn’t help but feel a small pain in his heart as he watched the little girl. 

“Rainie, you need to go take your bath,” Cole saw his daughter turn sad eyes on him.

“But… Pa,” Rainie whined.

“Rainie,” Cole warned. He watched as with a sad face the girl moved to put her cup in the sink and leave the kitchen. Turning his eyes back to the boy, he saw Vinca was once again staring at the tabletop. “You’re pretty good with her.”

“She’s very nice,” Vinca shrugged as he looked up. “She’s very easy to be with.”

“Yeah she is,” Cole stood moving to pick up Vinca’s empty cup before turning to start putting dishes away. He could feel the boy’s eyes watching him, he glanced over his shoulder. “Have you remember anything?”

Vinca bit his lower lip; a frown marred his forehead as he thought. “No I haven’t, it’s like it is blank.”

“It’ll be okay,” Cole moved away from the counter, he patted the boy’s shoulder as he left the room. He headed up the stairs to check on his daughter and to see if the guest room still had sheets on the bed. He knocked on the bathroom door, hearing Rainie call out before he moved down to the room at the end of the hallway.

Turning on the light, he glanced around the room making sure everything was in its place. Sometime Rainie would play in it, leaving a mess, but this time nothing was out of place. Heading back down the hallway he told Rainie she had ten minutes before he headed back down stairs, he found Vinca standing in front of the big bay window in the living room.

“You okay?” Cole asked seeing the way the boy had his arms wrapped around his middle.

“It’s so dark,” Vinca whispered; a shudder ran though him. “I can’t even see your neighbor.”

“That’s because he lives two miles up the road,” Cole moved to stand beside the boy, seeing the top of his head came to his chin.

“Oh,” Vinca wrapped his arms tighter around himself.

“I’ve made sure the guest room was ready, you can have it,” Cole saw startled blue eyes look at him.

“Thank you,” Vinca took a step away from the man. “That was very nice.”

“It’s at the top of the stairs, end of the hall,” Cole turned away, going to his chair he dropped down and picked up the remote. Vinca turned, seeing the man had turned on the news. Drifting over, he sat down on the sofa. It was a short time later when Rainie headed into the living room, the girl dressed in pajamas and a robe and slippers. He watched for several minutes as Cole tenderly brushed out the girl’s hair, a sad smile and a sudden ache in his chest as he watched.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping to post every week, most likely on Fridays.

Spring Equinox

Chapter two

Cole rolled, his eyes slowly coming open as he twisted slightly to see the clock. It was just after five in the morning. Pulling himself out of bed, he pulled on jeans before he fished for a clean shirt. He had chores to do before making breakfast for Rainie. Pulling on socks, he rubbed sleep from his eyes before he left his room.

Moving down the stairs, he paused about halfway down when he smelled freshly brewed coffee. Continuing the rest of the way down he moved quietly towards the kitchen, his eyes widening as he saw Vinca kneading dough at the kitchen table. It wasn’t something he’d seen since his mother was alive.

“You’re up early,” Cole saw the boy jump as he moved to pour himself coffee.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Vinca looked as Cole sat down at the table, the man’s dark brown hair still bed tousled. “I figured the least I could do was pitch in some way.”

“You can cook?” Cole looked around at the stuff on the table.

“Seems that way,” Vinca grinned as he worked the dough, the boy glancing up to see Cole was watching him. Picking up the rolling pin, he started to roll out the dough.

“What are you making?” Cole asked watching as Vinca brushed melted butter over the top of the dough.

“Cinnamon rolls,” Vinca set the butter down to pick up a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Cole watched; his eyes stuck to the slender hands as the boy worked. Sipping his coffee he smiled as Vinca placed nearly perfectly shaped rolls onto a cookie sheet.

“I hadn’t even realized I had the stuff for cinnamon rolls here,” Cole mused as he watched the boy slip the cookie sheet into the oven. He nodded his thanks as Vinca poured more coffee into his cup, he watched as the boy moved around the kitchen seeming freely at home.

He raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy start to concoct something else. He glanced at the clock before he stood, knowing that he had to get started. He saw Vinca pause to look at him; the boy was biting his bottom lip again. He waited to see if Vinca would say something.

“What time does Rainie need to get up?” Vinca finally asked softly.

“About six, but I should be back in by then,” Cole narrowed his eyes, watching the boy fidget somewhat.

“I could get her up,” Vinca shrugged as he moved to stand by the stove. He glanced back at the man, chewing on his lower lip as he waited to see what Cole would say.

“If I’m not back, you can get her up,” Cole said leaving the kitchen to grab his coat. He pulled his boots on, glancing back when he heard Vinca start to hum.

Plopping his hat onto his head, Cole left the house to cross to the barn, a yawn taking him by surprise as he entered the dark building. He started by letting the horses out, pausing by Dragon’s Fire to look at the animal. “Are you going to be good?”

With a smile he let the horse out, watching as the animal snorted before the horse walked out of the barn and into the pasture. He grabbed the pitch fork, moving he started to clean out each of the stalls. He soon lost himself in mucking out the hay. He swept the floor and hosed it down, and made sure the floor was dry before he stepped out, watching the horses in the field.

A smile found Cole’s mouth, he watched as his fifteen horses grazed in the pasture. Dragon’s Fire stood on the far side, the Irish Draught horse looking out over his herd. The horse had been his biggest purchase, he planned on breeding the horse some day, the only problem was that Dragon’s Fire was a bit on the over eager side.

Laughing, Cole shook his head; he knew how the horse felt. But so far he couldn’t have mares that came, bite up like that. Turning he walked back into the barn to put hay back into each of the stalls, knowing that his first riding class of five should be there around eight. Shifting, he glanced at his watch and nearly cursed. Turning he made his way back towards the house, seeing that it was forty minutes after six.

Entering the house, he paused to take a deep breath. It smelled wonderful. Tugging his boots off and hanging his coat up he made his way towards the kitchen. He found his daughter at the table, eating a cinnamon roll and a cup of hot chocolate. They both smiled at him when he walked into the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” Vinca asked moving to put one of the rolls onto a plate for him. 

“Yeah,” Cole said sitting down, he thanked the boy when Vinca poured more coffee as he set the plate down. Cole took his first bite, barely able to hold back a moan. It would seem the boy was very good at cooking, and it showed. He glanced up when Vinca sat back down, a cup of coffee cradled in his hands. He glanced over to see his daughter was dressed and her hair was done. It would seem that she’d be ready for the bus early today.

XXXXX

Cole glanced up as the last of his students finally showed. He frowned as the eighteen-year-old girl came over, a smile on her face. “Sorry I’m late.” She shrugged slightly.

“It’s fine, Emily, get your horse ready,” Cole instructed her, he watched as she wiggled her ass as she moved towards the corral of horses. He could hear mutters among the others in his group, but didn’t say anything to them. The girl had flirted with him and made a few downright blatant come-ons, but she seemed harmless.

As he waited, his thoughts turned back to the house where he knew Vinca was hiding. The boy had wondered out after him this morning, only to return to the house when the first person showed up. It seemed when people showed up the boy disappeared from sight. He wondered if it had anything to do with the bruising or if the boy was just generally shy.

“Teach?” Emily’s voice cut through his thoughts, and turning he saw she had finished saddling the horse. Nodding, he moved to lead Dragon’s Fire out into the front before he mounted the horse. He watched as the others also mounted, making sure they all did it correctly. He also knew that since he was now mounted on Dragon’s Fire, that Emily would keep away.

Turning the horse, he caught sight of Vinca standing just inside the door as he led the five out to the far pasture. He turned his attention away from the boy and onto the task at hand. It was actually the last class that this group would be having. He glanced back, watching as they all made the trail, moving in a line.

“Good, you all are doing well,” Cole smiled; it was actually nice to see them doing so well. He glanced over as Emily fell into step with his horse.

“You really think so?” she asked, smiling at him. 

“Yes, you did very well,” Cole met her eyes before he scanned the group again.

“I think we should go out to celebrate,” she nudged her horse closer, keeping a close eye on Dragon’s Fire. Seeing this the horse snorted slightly.

“If the group wants,” Cole nodded not really paying attention to the girl. 

“And if they don’t, just me and you?” she inquired. Cole turned to look at her, another frown on his face. He couldn’t quite understand why the girl would want to go out with him.

“You do know I’m thirty?” Cole raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled, reaching out to touch him, her eyes wide and what he was sure she thought was innocent looking.

“Of course, but you’re a young thirty and very sexy,” she giggled again. Cole shook his head, turning back to the group.

“I’m not going to go out with you,” he stated, his voice was solid. He watched the smile fade from her face, and felt bad for it. But hell, she was still a baby and anyway he didn’t date teenagers.

“But it will be fun,” she whined. Cole looked back at her he shook his head slightly.

“I’m not comfortable, and besides I have obligations,” he stated; he didn’t care to talk about his personal live with those that he taught.

“I could help you forget those obligations,” she grinned again.

“Listen, Emily, there is too much of an age gap and right now I don’t have time to date,” Cole turned, moving away to check the rest of the group and ending the conversation. He could still feel the girl’s eyes staring at him, but tried to put her out of his mind. 

He turned them, moving them back towards the way they had come. They would spend nearly two hours out; Cole would take them to the edge of his property and back. A smile crossed his face as he watched two of his other students, a couple just a bit older than him, they had decided to learn to ride when they bought an old hobby farm that they planned on keeping a couple of horses on.

“How are you guys doing?” Cole asked as he came up beside them.

“Good,” the woman smiled.

“Martha and I love this,” the man also smiled. 

“Jonathan,’’ Martha laughed, her soft voice floating out over the pasture. Cole couldn’t help but smile he really liked the couple. He had also been teaching them how to care for horses, knowing that sometime over the summer they would be acquiring two horses.

“Are you two going to continue to do the grooming class?” Cole asked; his voice low. He glanced between the two, watching as they smiled.

“Yes, we think we will,” Jonathan nodded a huge grin crossing his face.

“We’d like to see about getting our son out here to do this too,” Martha glanced around at the group. “But he’s got no interest in horses.”

“You can’t force these things,” Cole grinned, falling into the familiar conversation that they always had. He loved this time of the ride, when they all pitched in something. He glanced up when some of the people fell quiet, as the house came into view. On the porch swing was Vinca; the boy was slowly swinging back and forth as he watched the group approach.

“Who’s that?” Martha asked; her voice soft.

“Vin, he’s going to be staying here for a while,” Cole shrugged moving to dismount his horse. He watched as the others dismounted, moving to help them with the rub down and removal of the saddles and bridles before letting the horses loose in the pasture. He glanced back when Dragon’s Fire snorted, seeing that Vinca had been drawn to the animal again.

“Hey,” Emily moved towards young man and horse. Cole pulled away from one student, he was almost to them when Dragon’s Fire shifted, keeping between boy and girl, snorting loudly at Emily. The teenager stopped, her eyes glaring at them. “What the hell? That stupid horse doesn’t like anyone.”

“He’s not stupid,” Vinca glared as he let the horse bury its head in his shoulder. Small slender hands stoked the horse’s head, and Cole had to smile again. He wanted to shake his head, seeing how much bigger the black horse was compared to the boy.

Vinca stood about five foot six; the horse was nearly nineteen hands. He knew the horse could kill the boy easily, which was why he was so surprised to find Vinca in Dragon’s Fire’s stall. But that would explain why the animal was acting so strange that morning. He moved to stand in front of horse and boy, seeing Vinca was watching him with those periwinkle eyes again.

“I made some cider,” Vinca said softly, his face turning to nuzzle the side of the horse’s head.

“Thank you,” Cole turned, seeing that only Emily was left with the grooming of her horse. Crossing over, he watched for a few seconds before moving to help her.

“Who is he?” she hissed out, her eyes flashing angrily at him.

“It’s not your business,” Cole’s voice was hard, his eyes daring her to say anything else. Turning to the group, he smiled before calling out. “There is hot cider.”

XXXXX

Vinca looked up when Cole entered the house; he had been there for three days now. Earlier, Cole had stated that he had to run into town, leaving Vinca alone until Rainie got home from school. This surprised Vinca, because he really didn’t think the man would. Standing, he moved to take the bags that Cole was carrying.

“Is there more?” Vinca asked softly as he set down what he took onto the table.

“Yeah, a couple,” Cole nodded, turning to head back out. Vinca followed, moving to take a bag from Cole’s surprised hands. With a smile he picked up another one then turned to walk back into the house. He laughed when he saw Rainie was in one of the bags.

“I found cookies!” she yelled pulling out the bag of Oreos. 

“I got stuff to make cookies too,” Cole said softly, his eyes dropping as he set a couple more bags down. He glanced over to see Vinca watching him, the boy was grinning. “You can start unpacking these?”

“Sure,” Vinca laughed as he moved to start pulling things out. He had gotten to know Cole’s kitchen pretty well, having taken over most of the cooking. That first night, he had blushed and stammered out that he needed to feel useful and this was pretty much all he seemed to know how to do.

“Here,” Cole held out a couple bags, his eyes on Vinca.

“What’s this?” Vinca took the bag, his eyes dropping down to look inside. He glanced up when he saw the clothing, a frown on his face.

“The people at the hospital and sheriff station pitched in, when they found out you were still here,” Cole watched as the smile crossed the boy’s face.

“I’ll have to tell them thank you,” Vinca felt tears fill his eyes; he couldn’t look up to meet Cole’s eyes.

“You’ll get the chance,” Cole turned away, moving towards the table. 

“I’ll put these away and then come help you,” Vinca turned heading out of the kitchen, he walked up the stairs, the three bags held tightly in his arms. He dumped the bags onto the bed he had been using, moving to fold things before he moved to put them in the dresser.

Once done, he headed back down to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to watch father and daughter. He felt at home, the bruises were fading and the odd aches and pains in his body were lessening. He was scared to remember, at night when the dreams came, he wanted to hide. 

“Vinca?” Cole glanced back to see the boy chewing on his bottom lip, knowing that Vinca did that when he was nervous. 

“Well,” Vinca smiled slightly, his eyes going to Rainie, “what are we going to make for supper? I can make a pretty good pizza.”

“Yeah pizza!” Rainie cried out, her eyes going from her father to Vinca. “Please Pa, can Vinca make pizza?”

“Sure, maybe we can all help,” Cole watched his little girl bounce in her seat before turning to Vinca. 

“All right, you guys can help.” Vinca laughed as he moved to start pulling out things he would need. He moved to give each of them jobs to do while he started to mix the dough for making the crust. He kept his eyes on them both, a smile finding his face.

He did the crust, making the dough square on a cookie sheet; he put down the pizza sauce pushing the stuff towards the other two. He nodded, grinning as the two put on the toppings before he put on the cheese mixture. Once he had the thing slipped into the oven to bake, he turned to start making dessert.

“Go wash up,” Cole shooed Rainie out of the room. Once the girl was gone, he turned back to Vinca, his eyes watching the boy. “So what are you making?”

“Apple cobbler,” Vinca looked up before he went back to pealing apples. He knew that Cole sat across from him, the man’s eyes watching his hands. “Did you find which game you’ll be playing tonight?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna play monopoly,” Cole moved to get up; he walked into the hallway to grab the game out of the front closet. When he came back, he set it onto the counter and watched Vinca putting the finishing touches on their dessert.

XXXXX

Vinca glanced over, his eyes widening slightly as he saw Cole step out onto the porch. He could see the man was looking at him, even though it was dark. He wasn’t sure what the man was doing up in the middle of the night, but for some reason he had come looking for him.

“You okay?” Cole asked moving to sit down beside the boy.

“Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep,” Vinca shrugged slightly. He glanced over at Cole, seeing the man was wearing nothing but a pair of pants. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t, I went to get a drink and noticed your door was open,” Cole leaned back, glancing over to see Vinca was in flannel pajamas and his legs were curled under him. The boy looked cold still, and setting the swing into motion, he looked out over his yard. “So tell me what’s up.”

“I don’t know, I just feel like something is off,” Vinca shook his head, pulling his knees up; he wrapped his arms around them.

“Anything I can do?” Cole asked wanting to get up and go get the boy a blanket. 

“No,” Vinca shrugged again, he looked over at Cole and shivered. He couldn’t believe the man was out in just jeans. “Aren’t you cold?”

“No,” Cole laughed softly shifting to move slightly closer to the boy. If he couldn’t get Vinca a blanket he could share his body heat.

“Oh,” Vinca couldn’t help leaning into the heat the man was giving off. It seemed like he was cold all the time, unless he was snuggled under his covers. “You’re very warm.”

“Yeah,” Cole leaned back, his eyes going to the nearly full moon that hung in the sky. “I’m here to listen if you just… ya know, need to talk.”

“I know, thanks,” Vinca closed his eyes, his head tilting until it was resting on Cole’s shoulder. He had woken up in the dark and had reached across the bed as if he was looking for someone. When he had come up empty he had panicked and ended up out on the porch. “I think I used to sleep with someone.”

“Oh?” Cole glanced down, seeing the boy’s eyes were closed. He knew the doctor, while the man couldn’t tell his exact age, told him that Vinca was an adult.

“Um… sometimes, late at night I reach across the bed and feel panic when I can’t find them,” Vinca whispered, his voice full of emotions. “I just wish I could remember, because it feels as if something horrible has happened.”

“It’ll be okay,” Cole leaned his head to rest it against Vinca’s. They sat there quietly, as Cole kept the swing swaying slightly. He actually liked the quiet, liked sitting on the swing with someone. It had been a long time since he’d done it, and it was nice.

He saw Vinca was asleep, the boy completely resting against him. Shifting, he picked him up, still amazed at how light he was. Going into the house, he swung the door closed before moving through the house and up the stairs. He laid Vinca in the bed, pulling the heavy comforter up over the boy.

Returning to his own room, Cole crawled back into his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what he was going to do. He hadn’t heard much back from the sheriff, other than that there had been no missing persons reports that matched Vinca’s description. They figured with the tattoo it would be easy to make a match, it couldn’t be common.

Rolling to his side, he took a deep breath before closing his eyes. Even though it was Saturday, he still had to be up early to take care of the horses; besides, he had a group coming to ride to day. Closing his eyes he willed himself to sleep, to stop thinking about Vinca reaching for someone in the middle of the night.

XXXXX

Vinca glanced over at Rainie; the little girl was currently lying on the floor on her stomach watching Saturday morning cartoons. He couldn’t help but shake his head as the little girl laughed something that seemed oddly familiar to him. Picking up his coffee cup, he headed back into the kitchen, wondering why Cole hadn’t come back inside yet. Looking out the window, he was surprised to see two cars parked beside Cole’s blue pickup truck.

“Rainie?” Vinca called out, a frown marring the boy’s forehead.

“What?” Rainie inquired softly, as she paused inside the doorway.

“Do you know why there are cars out there?” Vinca turned to look at her, a smile coming to his face as he saw fuzzy pink slippers peeking out from under her robe.

“It’s Saturday, Pa does trail riding on Saturdays.” She shrugged walking over to look out the window. “I normally have to go with, I ride with Pa on Dragon, but not today, he said I could stay with you.”

“Ah, I see,” Vinca smiled, “so you get to watch cartoons this morning?”

“Yep,” Rainie moved back into the living room and Vinca shook his head as he moved to start cleaning up things from breakfast. He flipped on the radio low, making sure it wouldn’t disrupt the little girl watching cartoons. Swaying slightly as he did dishes, Vinca found himself at peace.

Once he was done with cleaning, he turned to start looking for something to make for dinner. He hated that he couldn’t remember, but it would seem that his recipes had stayed in his mind. Or at least when he got lost in cooking it seemed he knew what he was doing.

Deciding that he’d make a stew, he pulled out a roast that he had seen Cole stick into the refrigerator. Searching the kitchen he found the knife he wanted and the cutting board, and carrying the things to the table, he set to work. He started to hum with the radio.

“Vinca, can I go outside?” Vinca’s eyes widened as a voice out of his past over lapped Rainie’s. Another little girl another Saturday, a cry escaping him when the knife slipped and he cut himself, he held up his bloody hand, watching as blood dripped down his arm.

“Pa!” Rainie screamed; turning, the little girl fled the house in search of her father. “Pa! Pa, Vinca’s hurt!”

Rainie yelled at the top of her little lungs, tears slipping down her cheeks as she tried to find her father. Running into the barn, she ignored the other people as she searched for her father. When she found him she threw herself into his arms trying to get the words out.

“Vinca hurt… blood,” Rainie sobbed out, clinging to the man. Cole swept the child up, moving he headed back into the house. He set Rainie down as soon as he entered, moving towards the kitchen where he could hear water running. He paused in the doorway to see Vinca standing at the sink.

“You okay?” he asked, noting the blood.

“I’m fine, Janelle startled me,” Vinca shook his head, glancing back at Cole.

“Janelle?” Cole couldn’t help but ask, seeing a frown come to the boy’s face.

“What?” Vinca asked, trying to figure out what had happened. He watched as Cole crossed the kitchen, making sure not to step in the blood on the floor. He pulled Vinca’s hand, seeing the cut was between the boy’s thumb and forefinger. It wasn’t deep but it had bled a lot.

“You just called Rainie Janelle,” Cole said as he moved to place a towel over the cut before he pulled the first aid kit from under the sink.

“I um…” Vinca shook his head again, the memory had been right there, but now it was gone. “I don’t know… God, it was like someone else was there for a second.”

“It’s okay,” Cole soothed, trying not to let the boy know how it freaked him out that he was remembering. Or at least, things were coming back to Vinca. He moved to sit the boy down, before he started to wrap his hand.

“At least I missed bleeding on dinner,” Vinca broke Cole out his thoughts, looking down at the cutting board to see the blood had actually hit the table and not the roast.

“I can finish dinner later,” Cole looked up as he finished the boy’s hand. At least he didn’t need stitches that were something to be grateful for.

“I can do it,” Vinca looked up, seeing worry on Cole’s face. “I’m fine, I’ll clean this up and finish getting the stew started and then Rainie and I can go outside.”

“If you’re sure?” Cole inquired finding that he couldn’t argue with the boy. He had tried, one time before and found that Vinca was extremely stubborn.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Vinca smiled as he stood and moved to pull on a pair of rubber cleaning gloves. Vinca could feel Cole’s eyes on him for a few seconds before the man finally turned and left the kitchen. He saw Rainie standing just outside the doorway. “Rainie.”

“Are you okay?” the little girl sniffled.

“I’m fine, thank you for your quick thinking and going to get your dad,” Vinca smiled, seeing the girl move into the kitchen. “Why don’t you go get dressed and when I’m done here we’ll go outside and you can show me around some?”

“Okay!” Rainie smiled as she ran from the kitchen. Vinca laughed as he heard feet pounding up the stairs as he turned back to the mess. With a sigh, he cleaned up the blood before he finished cutting up the meat and putting it into the pot. Adding some water and seasonings, he turned the heat on low and moved to clean up the cutting board.


	3. 3

Spring Equinox 

Chapter three

Cole saw several of the riders turning their attention to his yard, seeing that Vinca and Rainie were in the small garden that the little girl tried to grow each year. He didn’t like the whispers or the way people stared, but as he watched the boy, he realized that Vinca stuck out.

Dismounting, he wasn’t surprised to see Dragon’s Fire trying to get to the boy. It would seem his horse had developed a fondness for him. He saw Vinca and Rainie heading towards them, a smile on the boy’s face as he went to the big black horse’s side.

“Man, I thought your horse hated everyone but you,” Joe laughed.

“He doesn’t like Cole, he only tolerates him!” another snickered out.

“So who’s the little boy?” Joe asked moving towards Vinca only to be brought up short when Dragon’s Fire turned to neigh at him. The horse made his displeasure of Joe being any closer known.

“Leave him alone,” Rainie clang to Vinca’s waist, the little girl’s eyes glaring at him. Joe held his hands up, laughing he glanced back at Cole to see the man was just shaking his head. 

“This is Vinca; he’ll be staying with us for a while,” Cole stated, because he wasn’t sure how long Vinca would be staying with them.

“What are you going to do with that horse when he leaves?” Joe laughed again, as his friend agreed with him.

“Shut up Joe,” Cole laughed slightly, although as he watched Dragon’s Fire nuzzle the boy he wondered that too. He turned to the group, thanking several of them as they made their way back to their cars. Joe and his friend stayed, moving to help Cole with the horses.

“Can I help?” Vinca asked, his voice soft.

“Sure,” Cole led the boy into the barn, showing Vinca how to remove the saddle Dragon’s Fire was wearing. Vinca nodded, letting Cole pull the heavy saddle from the horse. Next he handed the boy a rubber currycomb, showing him how to brush the horse; smiling he stood beside him as Vinca brushed what he could reach.

“Why did Rainie freak out this morning?” Vinca glanced up from the horse.

“What?” Cole inquired; glancing over to see Rainie was talking with Joe.

“It was a small cut, why did she act like I was dying?” Vinca met the man’s eyes.

“A year ago, Rainie saw a ranch hand gouged by a bull, the man bled to death before they could get help,” Cole said softly. “Ever since, seeing blood sends her into a panic.”

“Oh,” Vinca nodded turning back to the brushing. “Where is her mother?”

“Dead,” Cole’s voice dropped making the boy look at him again. Vinca nodded, moving around the front of the horse to the other side.

“Pa,” Rainie tugged on Cole’s arm.

“Hum?” Cole asked, smiling at his daughter.

“I want to plant a garden, Pa, Vinca can help me,” the girl smiled up at him. Cole looked over at Vinca, seeing the boy was watching them.

“It’ll be a while before you can plant one,” Cole stated. 

“But he can help plan it,” Rainie bounced on her feet; she smiled up at her father before looking at Vinca.

“If he’d like, than yes, he can help you,” Cole saw the boy look at him, Vinca’s blue eyes seemed darker in the darkness of the barn.

“Vinca?” Rainie inquired softly, her eyes staring up at him. 

“I can do that, but I don’t know anything about gardening,” Vinca walked back around to stand by them. He glanced up at Cole again.

“There are books in the house, you’re more than welcomed to look at them,” Cole pointed out. “In the bookcase, in the living room.”

“All right,” Vinca nodded, he handed the brush back to Cole, “I’m going to go check on the stew.”

Cole nodded, watching as Vinca walked away. He turned back to Rainie, seeing the girl was also watching the young man. He smiled as he patted his daughter’s head before turning back to Dragon’s Fire. He could see the horse was looking at him, he could almost see sadness in the animal’s eyes.

“He’s cute,” Joe said softly.

“Joe,” Cole warned; his voice hard as he kept his eyes on the horse.

“I’m just saying…” Joe started again.

“Don’t,” Cole led Dragon’s Fire out to the pasture, watching as the horse trotted across the pasture. He looked back to see Joe was watching him. “I’d rather not talk about it now, okay?”

“If you’re sure,” Joe nodded to his friend, seeing the man wave as he left.

“Rainie, why don’t you go up and help Vinca in the house?” Cole saw the little girl nod, moving to the front of the barn he watched her run across the yard and into the house. “We found him in the barn; he had no memory of his life. That’s why he’s staying here.”

“So that’s why he’s here,” Joe muttered leaning back against the barn.

“Until they can locate his family or he regains him memory,” Cole glanced over, his eyes straying over the yard. “I just… well it makes me nervous having him here.”

“Oh,” Joe nodded, turning slightly. “I have to get home to Mary.”

“All right,” Cole headed towards the house, waving at Joe as the man moved towards his car. Entering the house, he found Vinca and Rainie pouring over the garden books.

XXXXX

Cole entered the kitchen, frowning when he didn’t find either person he was looking for there. Turning, he headed further into the house, tilting his head slightly to listen. He heard them coming from second floor, moving that way he took the stairs two at a time. Cole paused in the doorway to Vinca’s room, smiling as he watched his daughter going through Vinca’s clothes.

“What’s going on guys?” Cole asked stepping into the room.

“Vinca needs more clothes,” Rainie stated looking at her father.

“I do not,” Vinca shook his head, a laugh escaping him.

“Yes, you do,” Rainie giggled as she looked at her father.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to take him shopping later,” Cole grinned, shaking his head as he moved to stand beside the bed. “But for today, how about picnic?” 

“Yeah!” Rainie scooted off the bed running out of the room. Cole turned back to Vinca, seeing the boy was staring at the floor.

“Vinca?” Cole saw the boy look up.

“I don’t really have anything warm to wear,” Vinca yelped slightly as Cole grabbed his arm, having no choice but to follow after the man as he was pulled from the room. 

“I think I have something,” Cole said going into his room, pulling the boy after him. He pulled open the closet and started to look through what he had hanging.

“I couldn’t,” Vinca shook his head; he glanced up as Cole looked over his shoulder at him.

“It’ll be fine,” Cole pulled out a flannel shirt of his that has gotten to small; he turned and held it up in front of Vinca. He saw that it would drown the boy. “That’s too big.”

 

“Cole,” Vinca shook his head.

“No, hang on,” Cole put the shirt back, moving to dig through his closet.

“I’m going to go make the picnic,” Vinca turned leaving the room; he could still hear Cole muttering to himself. It wasn’t all that cold out, but to Vinca it was. Entering the kitchen, he started to pull things out and setting them onto the table. When Rainie came into the room, the little girl pulled out the picnic basket, a smile on her face as she helped Vinca with the preparation.

“Found something,” Cole entered the kitchen carrying a sweatshirt. He handed the article of clothing to the boy, before he looked at the table. “I’ve saddled two horses; Rainie can ride one on her own.”

“What am I going to ride?” Vinca looked between them, frowning at Cole.

“You can ride with me, I’ve saddled Enchanted for Rainie, she’s the one I use for first timers,” Cole explained softly.

“Why can’t I ride Enchanted?” Vinca raised an eyebrow at Cole.

“The trail we’re taking isn’t for beginners, Rainie isn’t a beginner, but you are,” Cole explained. He moved to check what had been packed.

“Oh okay,” Vinca pulled the sweatshirt on, smiling as he followed Cole and Rainie from the house. He listened to Cole explain to Rainie what they were doing and where they were going. Vinca watched as Cole attached the picnic lunch to Enchanted.

“Ready?” Cole asked his daughter, moving to pick her up and placing her onto the horse. Vinca watched as Cole mounted Dragon’s Fire, looking up as Cole held out his hand.

“Maybe I should ride with Rainie,” Vinca muttered glancing at Rainie on the shorter horse.

“Dragon won’t let you,” Cole stated seeing the horse trying to get close to the boy. “Now come on.”

“All right,” Vinca moved towards him, holding his hand out to Cole. He nearly yelped as Cole leaned and grabbed him up. He kept his eyes closed as the man arranged him on the animal.

“You can open your eyes now,” Cole laughed softly as he wrapped his arms around the boy the grab the rains. “All right, Rainie, lead the way.”

Vinca opened his eyes, looking down at the ground. He leaned back against Cole, shifting slightly to try and bury his face into Cole’s shoulder. He kept his eyes open, tightening his hold on Cole’s arm as the man laughed. A whimper escaped him, as Dragon’s Fire picked up his pace.

“You have to relax, he’s not going to do anything,” Cole soothed into the boy’s ear.

“It’s so high up,” Vinca whispered, he glanced over to see Rainie was sitting high, a smile on her face. Seeing how much fun the girl was having, Vinca started to relax.

“See, its all good,” Cole pointed with the hand holding the rains. “Look out there.”

“Oh, wow,” Vinca looked out over the pasture, his eyes widening as he saw the beauty of nature. He couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away, not sure if he had ever seen such a sight. 

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Cole asked, watching the head in front of him bob. “I grew up here, the ranch was my parents and before them, my grandparents.”

“I wish I remembered my life before this,” Vinca looked back over his shoulder at the man, seeing Cole was watching him. Vinca shifted to see better, wishing that he could remember his life. Although deep down, he was sure his wasn’t as interesting as Coles. 

“You will,” Cole said nudging Dragon’s Fire to catch up with Enchanted. Vinca held on, he closed his eyes a laugh escaping him. He looked up when Cole stopped the horse, and looked around.

“I wish I had a camera,” Vinca stated randomly as Cole dismounted; he glanced around the meadow seeing a small pond not far from where they were standing. 

“Vinca come look!” Rainie yelled.

“Okay,” Vinca laughed, he looked down his smile fading slightly. 

“Here let me help,” Cole reached up and grabbing Vinca around the waist. He helped the boy down, setting Vinca onto his feet.

“Thanks,” Vinca turned towards Rainie, smiling as he made his way towards the girl. Stopping beside her, he knelt down to see what she was pointing at.

“It’s a spring flower,” Rainie grinned at him.

“It’s an Indian paintbrush,” Cole pointed out. “I’m gonna set out the blanket.”

“I’ll help,” Vinca followed after him, taking the blanket as Cole held it out. He moved to find a sunny spot to lay it out. He looked back as Cole set the basket down, a grin finding his face. “I packed some hot cocoa.”

“Ah, a man after my own heart,” Cole grinned as he sat down; taking off his hat he set it aside as he moved to dig out the aforementioned cocoa. Vinca knelt down on the blanket, shifting so he could watch Rainie as the little girl picked a few of the wild flowers.

“It’s absolutely beautiful out here,” Vinca took a deep breath, fresh air making him smile.

“You should see it in the summer time,” Cole leaned back on one arm, stretching his long legs out.

“I hope to see it,” Vinca’s voice was soft. He glanced over to see Cole was watching him, the man’s hazel green eyes seemed sad.

“Me too,” Cole meant it too; he hoped that Vinca was still there when summer finally bloomed. But he knew the boy wasn’t from Wyoming. “I wonder where you’re from.”

“I’m from…” Vinca frowned as he bit his lip. “I’m not sure.”

“It’ll come back to you,” Cole smiled, nodding towards Rainie, where the girl was carrying a bouquet of flowers to Vinca.

“Look at what I picked,” she laughed as she sat herself down in the boy’s lap. Vinca wrapped his arms around her, taking the bunch of flowers as Cole poured the girl a cup of cocoa.

“So what did Vinca pack for lunch?” Cole asked; laughing as the two looked at him. He had to admit he liked seeing them together. He liked the idea that there was someone else there for Rainie when he was working.

“I packed that cold chicken from dinner and a pasta salad,” Vinca looked at Cole, seeing the man was watching him. 

“Look! This flower matches the color of your eyes, Vinca!” Rainie bounced slightly; she pulled one of the small flowers from the bunch. In her hand was a tiny periwinkle blue flower.

“I do believe you’re right, Rainie,” Cole laughed leaning back again. He looked around the meadow, a grin on his face as he thought about the last time he had brought people up here. Leaning all the way back, he closed his eyes against the sun.

Vinca shook his head, before he turned back to the little girl and the wonders of nature that were all around them. Standing Rainie up, he stood and taking her hand walked with her towards the pond. He wanted to see it up close, see if he could see any fish in it. He stopped on the edge, looking out over it.

“Are there fish in there?” he asked looking down at Rainie, he saw the little girl shrug her shoulders. “I bet there are.”

XXXXX

Vinca stood on the porch, waving to Rainie as the girl boarded the school bus. He leaned against the porch post, taking a sip of his coffee as he watched the bus slowly drive away. Once the bus was out of sight he turned and walked back into the house. 

“Hey,” Cole came from the kitchen, the man carrying a folder. “I have a new class starting today.”

“All right,” Vinca looked up, waiting until Cole looked at him.

“They should start getting here soon,” he said. Vinca nodded moving into the kitchen, he could hear Cole follow behind him.

“Okay,” Vinca started the dishes, knowing for some reason that the man was standing in the kitchen doorway staring at him.

“Would you like to learn to ride?” Cole finally asked.

“Sure, when you have time,” Vinca glanced behind him, a smile coming to his face as he saw Cole frowning. The man turned when he heard a car door. Vinca watched him go before he turned back to the dishes. He was glad to be able to help out in the house, since he couldn’t help out anywhere else on the ranch.

Drying his hands, he moved around the kitchen putting things back. He figured he would clean Cole’s house and see if any laundry needed to be done. Once he was done with the kitchen, he headed up the stairs to Rainie’s room, grabbing the laundry basket that was sitting by the girl’s closet. He checked under the bed, and on the floor of the closet, before he set the basket down to make Rainie’s bed.

With a smile, Vinca grabbed the basket and head into his room. Grabbing his clothing that needed to be washed he turned and headed down the hallway, only to pause outside of Cole’s bedroom. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to see or would be welcomed into it. Taking a deep breath he pushed the door opened, somewhat surprised to see not only was Cole’s bed made, but the room was as neat as he remembered it.

He found the man’s dirty clothing and adding it to the basket; he left the room closing the door behind him. Heading down stairs he found the washer and dryer. Sorting the clothing, he read the back of the detergent bottle before he put the first load in. Watching for a second, he grinned and turned to search out the vacuum. He felt wonderful for getting things done.

He vacuumed the living room, put the books back on the bookcase, dusted the house and swept and mopped the kitchen floor. He also managed to get a second load of laundry in. he was at the table folding the second load when Cole came back in, the man stopping in the doorway.

“Wow, its like really clean in here,” Cole pulled his hat off, his eyes going to what Vinca was doing.

“I got the laundry out of your room,” Vinca didn’t look up from where he was folding the man’s jeans.

“Thanks, you know you don’t have to do this,” Cole moved to the stove, his nose telling him that Vinca had been cooking again.

“I know, but I like to,” Vinca placed the last pair of jeans on the table; he turned to look at Cole. 

“I know,” Cole grinned, “what are you making?”

“Soup,” Vinca crossed the kitchen, reaching out he took the lid off the stockpot. “Chicken noodle, I had to use up the rest of that chicken.”

“Ah, it smells wonderful.” Cole moved towards the fridge, he knew he had to get something to eat, or he’d be in Vinca’s soup.

“I left you a sandwich in the there,” Vinca stirred his soup. He put the cover back on, watching as Cole pulled out the sandwich. He picked up the clothing, moving out of the kitchen.

“Just set mine on my bed, please,” Cole called after the retreating figure.

“All right,” Vinca shook his head as he carried the basket back upstairs. He dropped Cole’s clothing off first, leaving said clothing on the man’s bed. He took Rainie’s to her room next, not having to search hard to find out where things went. Once that was done he carried his to his room, putting away the small amount of clothing he had away. He then returned the basket to Rainie’s room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I'm still having a hard time getting the time table on posting. My work times are weird and with the kids and all its hard. I'm trying to get better at making sure I post on the day I said, but still a work in progress. These chapters have not been edited by any one. I am still looking for a person to work on editing my stuff, the one I use to have I'm not sure I can get a hold of any longer. Anyways, please enjoy the chapter.

Chapter four

Rainie looked between the two men at the table. She was glad that Vinca had showed up in their barn, she liked having the man around. She also noticed that every once in a while her father would look at the other man strangely. It was almost as if he couldn’t believe that Vinca was here.

She felt bad sometimes late at night, when she prayed that Vinca wouldn’t get his memory back, that the man could stay forever with them. And it didn’t hurt that Vinca could cook so well, a smile came to her face as she dipped her fresh bread into her soup.

“Pa, I want to put veggies in my garden this year,” she said seeing her father pull his eyes away from Vinca.

“Why do you want that?” Cole asked his daughter.

“So Vinca has some fresh veggies to cook with,” Rainie looked over when she heard Vinca make a noise, looking back as she heard her father laugh.

“Well, that’s awful nice of you,” Cole glanced up to see Vinca was watching Rainie.

“It is,” he dropped his eyes; he couldn’t tell them how nice it made him feel.

“Vinca can stay with us forever,” Rainie lost her smile as she watched her father’s smile fade. She looked over at the other man, seeing Vinca was staring at the kitchen table. “What?”

“When Vinca gets his memory back, he may have a family to go home to,” Cole explained, although he wasn’t sure, since there hadn’t been a missing persons report in the two weeks that Vinca had been there.

“But he likes it here,” Rainie looked at Vinca, “you like it here don’t you?”

“I do, very much so,” Vinca whispered, suddenly scared that Cole would ask him to go. For some reason, something told him he was safe here that as long as he stayed, the outside world couldn’t touch him.

“We’ll take it one day at a time,” Cole stated tossing his napkin onto the table. “I have to take care of the horses.”

Rainie watched her father leave the kitchen. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Of course not,” Vinca reached over to touch the girl’s hand. “Finish your soup and then after your bath we’ll read some.”

“Okay,” Rainie smiled as she ate the rest of her soup. Once done she excused herself before running up the stairs to start her bath, knowing that if she hurried that she’d get more time to listen to Vinca read to her.

XXXXX

Vinca frowned, he had sent Rainie upstairs to bed when the time came, even though Cole hadn’t come back in yet. He didn’t want to say he was worried, but well, he was starting to get worried. Moving towards the coat rack, he was about to pull his coat on when he heard the door. He looked up to see Cole coming in, the man carrying a box and he was extremely dirty.

“Sorry, but… well I remember I had this and thought maybe you’d find something to keep yourself busy during the day,” Cole moved to set the box down onto the kitchen table. “Rainie in bed?”

“I just sent her up,” Vinca moved towards the box, looking in with a frown.

“Okay, well look at the stuff, I’m gonna go say goodnight and shower,” Cole left the kitchen, leaving Vinca standing there. He pulled some of the things out of the box, finding cross stitching patterns and all the stuff he would need. Even towards the bottom was a book on how to. Digging more, he pulled out an old camera, a frown on his face as a memory slammed into him.

Shaking his head, he slowly pulled off the lens cap and brought the camera up to look through the viewfinder. His vision focused and suddenly he was looking across the park at a family, the man smiling back at him. Pulling the camera away, Vinca shook his head again as he felt his throat close and he found it hard to breath. With an unsteady breath he set the camera down and picked up the embroidery book.

Sitting down, he glanced over the book. A small smile came to his face as he let his fingers run over one picture. He was pretty sure he’d never done anything like it before, and was somewhat excited about trying it. He read over instructions, he learned what certain things meant. He looked up when Cole came back into the room, the man only wearing a pair of sleeping pants.

“Sorry about earlier,” Cole moved to sit in the chair across from the love seat that Vinca was sitting on.

“It’s… um… its okay,” Vinca pulled his eyes away from the man’s body. He couldn’t help but be very aware of the expanse of tan skin sitting across from him. He wondered how the man had a tan when it was only April. His thought suddenly supplied him with a wonderful setting of Cole stretched out on white sheets and him with his camera. “Thank you, for the stuff to do.”

“Well, if figured it would give you something to do, unless you want to help me,” Cole watched the boy, seeing Vinca kept looking at this chest, Vinca’s face had gone from red to pale to red again.

“I might be more in the way,” Vinca looked down again, letting is fingers play with the edge of the book. “I’m not sure the people you teach would like me hanging around.”

“They’d get use to you,” Cole stated, his eyes on the boy.

“I’m not sure,” Vinca shrugged as he looked up again. “I’d like to try this for a bit.”

“I have another thing,” Cole stood, moving across the room he reached up to grab a box off the top of the bookcase. Walking over, he sat down beside Vinca on the sofa. “Here, these are more of the things my mother had.”

“Oh?” Vinca set the book down to look at the box, pulling out what looked to be dollies and other things. He looked up at the man.

“I don’t know what you’d like to do,” Cole reached for the boy’s hand, seeing Vinca was watching him. “But well, manual work seems to be out.”

“I can cook,” Vinca couldn’t help but stare at where Cole was holding his hand.

“Yes you can,” Cole smiled letting go of the boy’s hand. He got up to return to his chair, he watched as the boy looked through the box. “My mother loved to crochet and quilt.”

“Ah,” Vinca nodded as he stood, he glanced at the man before he put the stuff back into the box along with the book. Picking up the box, he looked at Cole. “I think I’ll shower and turn in, night.”

“Night,” Cole watched the boy leave.

Vinca placed the box on the kitchen table with the other box; he paused to stare down at the camera. He didn’t know but something about it called to him. Turning he head upstairs to his room where he grabbed pajamas before going to the bathroom. Pulling his clothing off, Vinca turned to the mirror to look, seeing that several of the bruising had faded. He turned to the tattoo on his leg, it went around his ankle and nearly to his knee, and again wondered about it.

Shaking his head, he turned to start the water. Stepped under the stray he wetted down his black hair, tilting his head back with a sigh. He pushed his hair back, staring up at the ceiling as he thought about Cole. He felt the changes in his body; letting his eyes slip closed he let his hand slide down his body. He scooted around his growing erection to rub his hands down his thighs.

A groan escaped him when he hit a sensitive spot, his finger tips slipping up the inside of is thighs until the back of his hands touched his balls. He moaned, leaning slightly. He kept his eyes closed, trying not to let Cole sneak into this thoughts. But just that was enough to set him off, for some reason, the thought of the man’s large work roughened hands on his body got him going.

Wrapping his hand around his erection, Vinca slowly started to stroke. Reaching up he braced one hand against the shower wall as he worked himself with the other. He could feel his stomach tighten, not sure he was feeling all that well about using Cole as a stimulant. But it wasn’t like he knew anyone else. Another moan escaped him as he ran his thumb over the head of his cock.

“Vinca?” a cry escaped the boy when he heard Cole’s voice through the door. He felt the tension in snapped and he came. “Are you okay?”

“Fine…” Vinca’s voice was rough, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Cole’s voice was muffled.

“Yes, fine,” Vinca washed away the evidence of what he had been doing. He shifted moving to wash his hair and not to think about what he had just done. He could feel tears coming to his eyes, knowing that it wasn’t fair to Cole what he had just done.

Finishing up his shower, Vinca stepped out and wrapped a towel around himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and drying off he pulled on his pajamas. Wiping the condensation off the mirror, he pulled a brush through his hair. He moved to brush his teeth, before he finally ventured out of the bathroom towards his room. He was grateful that Cole wasn’t around.

Entering his room, he put his dirty clothes in the hamper before he climbed into bed. Picking up the book he had taken from the bookcase, Vinca opened it. He tried to lose himself in the story; the only problem was that he was lonely. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he set the book aside and turned off his light.

XXXXX

Cole watched Vinca from the barn; he could see the boy was sitting on the swing staring into the distance. He was worried, since he had come up stairs the night before to hear moans coming from the bathroom. He had spoken before thinking, realizing too late what the boy was doing. He had felt bad; after making sure Vinca was okay he had gone to his room.

How he worried about the boy, Vinca had been uncommonly quiet this morning. Now he was just sitting and staring off into the distance. He turned when Dragon’s Fire nudged him, reaching up he wrapped his arm under the horse’s neck to rub the horse’s head.

“I’m worry,” Cole said softly to the horse. He heard Dragon’s Fire snort slightly at that, nudging Cole in the shoulder. “I want him to be happy, if its not here, then where ever he’ll be.”

Cole turned back Vinca continuing to watch him. For some reason the thought of the boy being sad made Cole want to do something for him. Turning back into the barn, he went back to grooming Dragon’s Fire. He knew that he had to get things done; he couldn’t stand all day and watch the boy, no matter if he wanted to.

Once he finished, he led the horse out into the pasture. Turning he stopped when he saw Vinca standing in the doorway to the barn. Moving towards him, he saw the boy was chewing his bottom lip again, something that Vinca seemed to do when he was nervous.

“Hey,” Cole was quiet as he saw him look up.

“Did you need help?” Vinca asked.

“I’m pretty much done here,” Cole let his gaze sweep the barn, a smile on his face. “If you want, you can come to the garage with me, I have something to do there.”

“Okay,” Vinca trailed behind him, pausing before entering the garage behind the boy. Entering, he was surprised to see a car. He crossed the garage, pausing beside the deep red mustang. “This is very nice.”

“Yeah, it was…” Cole trailed off; he shrugged slightly as he went back to the toolbox he was looking through. 

“Does it work?” Vinca asked, figuring Cole has stopped because it had at one time belong to the man’s wife.

“Sure, it runs like a top,” Cole glanced behind him, seeing the boy was running his fingers over the hood of the mustang. “Do you like it?”

“I do, was it your wife’s?” Vinca looked over, finding Cole’s face hard to read because it was in the shadows.

“No, sister’s,” Cole frowned, wondering why Vinca would think he had a wife. “Keys are hanging beside the door in the kitchen, do you drive?”

“I don’t know,” Vinca shrugged slightly. “I think so, but I don’t know.”

“Oh, well than, we’ll have to check it out later,” Cole smiled as he turned to leave the garage; he knew Vinca trailed behind him. At least the boy was no longer staring into space; it made it a little easier to get things done. He knew he’d have to explain to the boy that he hadn’t had a wife, but he could do that later. 

XXXXX

Vinca stared at the camera where it was sitting innocently on the coffee table. He had been drawn to it, no matter where he stuck it; he kept coming back to it. He crossed his arms over his chest, glad that Cole was out of the house at the moment. For the life of him, Vinca couldn’t figure out why the hell the camera drew him. What was it about the thing that made his hands itch to get a hold of it?

With a sigh; he closed his muttering out the information he knew about the camera that was sitting in front of him. It was a 1970 Ricoh TLS 401, it was top of the line at that time. It was cutting edge technology and was a very expensive camera at the time. 

Taking a step towards the coffee table, Vinca reached downed and picked the camera up. He didn’t know if it had film in it, just finding the spot he saw that it was empty. So there would be no old pictures of Cole’s wedding or anything like that. Glancing around the living room, Vinca was very surprised that there were very few pictures hanging on the wall. With three generations having lived here, shouldn’t there be more pictures?

Moving to the box he had found the camera Vinca slowly looked through to see if he could find any film. Not finding any, Vinca turned and walked into the kitchen. He set the camera onto the table, turning towards one of the drawers he moved to where he knew Cole kept odds and ends. Not finding any film in the drawer either, Vinca turned once again, his eyes going back to the camera.

His eyes widened and his breath caught, it was as if he was looking into the past. He could hear voices, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. He could clearly see the Ricoh, a red, blue, green and orange neck strap attached to it. A terrible sad pain came to his chest, he knew, he knew just out of his grasp; he knew who that camera belong to.

“Oh, hey,” Vinca jumped at the too loud voice, his wide eyes focusing on Cole. “You found my mom’s old camera, but I hate to say it, there’s no film for it.”

“I um…” Vinca let his eyes focus on Cole; he could see the man was watching him strange. “I figured that out.”

“Are you okay?” Cole took a couple of steps toward him.

“Fine, just… um,” Vinca’s eyes went to the camera again. “It seemed familiar.” 

Cole looked behind him, the man’s face scrunched in a frown. “The camera does?”

Vinca nodded. He watched Cole for a few more minutes before he pulled his eyes away. He heard Cole mutter something before the man left the room. Vinca looked up when Cole came back in, the man carrying something in his hand. He frowned as Cole held out a digital camera to him.

“It’s not much, but my sister bought it when she found out she was pregnant,” Cole stated. “I’ve used it, but well, it’s just a camera to me.”

“It’s a Nikon,” Vinca whispered softly. 

XXXXX

Cole shifted; his eyes going back to the house. He had been surprised when he had walked in to see Vinca staring at the old camera so intently. He hadn’t meant to scare the boy, but had assumed that Vinca had heard him come in. When he had said the camera was familiar Cole figured he’d go get the digital off his desk, let the boy see that. When Vinca had said what kind it was before the boy had even touched it, Cole had been surprised.

He had wondered, not sure why the boy would remember cameras. Figuring maybe Vinca had a thing for cameras, but the boy kept coming back to the old camera. The Ricoh. Hell, he hadn’t even heard of the brand let alone known the thing was sitting in a box in his garage.

Maybe it was like Vinca’s cooking; the boy just retained the memories as long as he didn’t think to hard about it. He had noticed that if Vinca had to tell you what was in one of his recipes he couldn’t, but he could make it without having to write it down. It was just another weird thing about the boy.

XXXXX

 

Vinca shifted, his eyes going to the phone that had started to ring. He glanced around the kitchen, not seeing Cole anywhere in the house. He knew that if anyone wanted to get a hold of Cole they’d call the man on his cell phone. Moving he reached for the phone, pausing for a second before picking it up.

“Hello?” Vinca answered softly.

“I’m looking for Cole Danner?” the woman on the phone said.

“He’s not here; he’s out… somewhere,” Vinca glanced around frowning slightly.

“I need to find him, it’s about his daughter,” the woman sounded concerned.

“Something is wrong with Rainie?” Vinca bit his lip, his eyes landing on the keys hanging by the door.

“I really can’t say, I need to speak with Mr. Danner,”

“He’s not here, did you try his cell?” Vinca inquired.

“We tried, that’s why we called the house,” she sounded annoyed.

“I live with them, I can come to the school,” Vinca turned looking out the window towards the barn, hoping to see Cole there. But he didn’t see either man or horse.

“Well,” the woman’s voice was muffled slightly, before coming back to the phone. “Fine, if you can come.”

“Sure, just tell me how to get there,” Vinca grabbed a pencil, writing down what the woman said. He hoped that Cole wouldn’t be upset if he took the car. Hanging up the phone, Vinca grabbed the keys and pulling on his coat and boots he headed out to the garage.

Getting the garage door open, he crossed to the car and opened the door. Getting into the car, he took a minute to figure out how to pull the seat forward. Putting the key in the ignition he turned it, closing his eyes he sighed as the car started. Vinca shifted the car into reverse and slowly back it out.

He drove slow, hoping that he didn’t get pulled over. Taking it slow, he made sure to consult his directions. It didn’t take him long to find the school and pulling into the parking lot he parked the car and turned it off. Getting out, he made his way up to the school. Vinca found the office and walking in, he saw several of the women look up.

“I’m here about Rainie Danner, I’m Vinca,” the boy said, he glanced around them.

“Down the hall, third door on the left,” one of them said.

“Thank you,” Vinca turned, leaving the office he walked down the hallway, counting the doors. When he got to the third door he knocked softly before stepping in. he saw Rainie look up, the little girl’s eyes were red. He turned to the woman sitting at the desk. “I’m Vinca.”

“You’re staying with the Danner’s?” she asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yes,” Vinca moved towards Rainie, he was worried about the little girl.

“Mr.…” the teacher trailed off, getting up she moved towards Vinca. He looked over at the teacher; biting his bottom lip he wasn’t sure what he was going to tell her. 

“I don’t remember,” Vinca shook his head, “tell me what’s wrong with Rainie.”

“She was supposed to go down for testing,” the teacher’s mouth turned down. “But she suddenly didn’t feel well.”

“Testing?” Vinca knelt down in front of Rainie, his hand reaching up to tilt her chin back up. “She’s in kindergarten, what could you be testing for?”

“Placement testing for next year,” the woman huffed glaring down at them.

“You do realize that she’s running a fever?” Vinca stated as he cupped the girl’s check. He could see that Rainie was really feeling poorly. “How long have you felt badly, sweetie?”

“Just before lunch,” her voice was low.

“She needs to take that placement test,” the teacher placed her hips as she glared at them. Vinca stood, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.

“She’s sick; you’re telling me that a placement test is more important than her health?” Vinca’s voice dropped as he moved towards the woman.

“She’s faking,” the woman insisted.

“She can’t fake a fever, which she has,” Vinca hissed angrily. “Get your stuff, Rainie, I’m taking you home.”

“You can’t,” the teacher shook her head, her mouth turning down when Rainie moved to get her stuff. She looked at the man that had come. “Only her father can release her.”

“Well, I can’t find him right now, but I’m not leaving her here with a fever!” Vinca turned, seeing that Rainie had her coat and backpack he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and left the room

XXXXX

Cole’s eyes widen as he listened to Vinca, a smile graced his face as the boy stood up to the woman. His smile faded when he heard the boy say that his daughter had a fever. As he stood listening, he knew that Vinca had it under control. He had nearly panicked when he had gotten the message about Rainie, and then gotten back to the house only to find Vinca and the mustang gone.

He ducked into a doorway when Vinca led the little girl out of the classroom. He watched as Vinca went to the office, knowing that the boy was explaining to the women in there that he was taking the girl home. Turning he left the school to head back to his ranch knowing that Vinca would get his daughter home.

Cole took the back ways, knowing that he’d be able to get back before they did. Once he got home, Cole worked on finishing up with the horses. He was just coming out of the barn when he saw the mustang pulling into the garage. Heading that way, he saw Vinca look up at him and froze.

“Head in Rainie,” Cole said glancing at the girl, before he turned his eyes back to Vinca. “I guess we know you can drive.”

“They couldn’t find you,” Vinca crossed his arms over his chest. “They wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but it sounded urgent.”

“I see,” Cole mimicked Vinca’s pose. 

“She’s sick,” Vinca turned slightly, “I should go take her temperature and give her some medicine.”

“Vinca, I’m her father,” Cole stated, he saw the boy freeze.

“Of course,” Vinca dropped his head; he could almost hear the voice from his past. It brought pain to his heart and tears to his eyes. “Sorry.”

Cole stared at the down turned head; he wasn’t sure what was up with the boy. But he moved past Vinca and into the house. He took the stairs two at a time, knocking softly on Rainie’s door he pushed it open to see his daughter had climbed into bed.

“Hey, I heard you’re not feeling well,” Cole moved to sit down on the bed; he reached up to lay a hand on her forehead. It was hot to the touch and Rainie looked terrible, much different then when he had sent her onto the bus that morning.

“The teacher wouldn’t listen, but Vinca made her,” Rainie snuggled down. “Where is Vinca?”

“Down stairs,” Cole stated getting up; he went into the bathroom to grab a glass of water and some aspirin. Returning to Rainie’s room, he saw his daughter look up. “Here take these.”

Sitting up, Rainie took the pill her father was holding out. Taking them, she handed the glass back to her father before snuggling down again. Cole set the water down on the nightstand before making sure she was tucked in. He left the room; he headed back down to find Vinca in the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” he asked the boy.

“Fine,” Vinca shrugged before he wrapped his hands around the coffee cup in front of him.

“I’m sorry, it’s just the tag on that car are no longer valid,” Cole sat down across from him; he saw the boy was staring hard at the cup.

“Its fine,” Vinca didn’t look up, “he used to tell me that too, that he was her father and I needed to stay back.”

“You remember?” Cole asked, wishing the boy would look up.

“Not really, just little things. Like voice out of nowhere, dreams only half remember,” Vinca let his voice drop even lower. “Late at night, sometimes he would tell me he was sorry.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

  
Vinca rolled, having spent the night tossing and turning, he had finally fallen asleep in the early hours of morning. Now pulling himself out of bed, he shivered as his feet hit the wood floor. Pulling on a robe he yawned as he moved to leave his room. He knew that Cole would be up soon, and he wanted to have breakfast done. Going down stairs he started the coffee, and then flipped on the radio.

  
As he walked past the window, he stopped his eyes widening as he looked out over the blanket of white. Not only that, but it was still coming down, heavy. He heard the radio saying that the schools were closed and they were expecting the snow to get even heavier. His eyes were wide when he turned to see Cole standing there.

  
“Vinca?” Cole worried, the boy was suddenly very pale.

  
“They said, the schools are closed and the weather is going to get worse,” Vinca motioned to the radio, his eyes going to Cole.

  
“Its fine,” Cole said moving to pull on his boots.

  
“Where are you going?” Vinca’s voice rose slightly.

  
“Out to check the horses, they have to be fed,” Cole looked at the boy, seeing Vinca had wrapped his arms around his waist. “Don’t worry, Vinca, besides Rainie most likely will be too sick to go into school anyways.”

  
“All right,” Vinca bit his lip, watching as the man finished getting ready. He watched as Cole pulled on heavy outside clothing before the man glanced at him again.

  
“I’ll be back in, in a few,” Cole turned and left the kitchen. Vinca stared at the doorway until he heard the front door open and close. With a sigh, he turned back to the coffee. He knew he should check on Rainie, if the girl was still warm he’d let her sleep. Unless Cole had already checked on her, biting his lip again he turned to head back up the sitars and into the girl’s room.

  
“Rainie?” he whispered touching the girl’s head, he heard her mutter as she shifted. He could tell she was still warm and pulling the covers back up around her he went back to the kitchen. Pouring a cup of coffee he sat down at the table to wait for Cole to return.

  
After sitting for twenty minutes, Vinca stood and started to pace the room. He paused by the window, looking out at the falling snow. Biting his lower lip, he pulled his robe tighter around himself; he wanted Cole back in the house. He knew though, that the man had to check the horses.

  
Deciding that he needed to do something, Vinca stood and started to make the batter for waffles. He kept an eye on the window, amazed at how much snow had fallen. He found the waffle iron, smiling as he set it onto the counter and plugged it in. standing he watched the iron as it heated. He hoped that Cole would be back in the house by the time it was hot enough.

  
“Vinca?” turning, the boy saw Rainie standing there, the little girl was rubbing her eyes. She was wrapped in a quilted blanket and clinching her teddy bear.

  
“How are you feeling?” Vinca moved towards the girl.

  
“Icky,” she looked up, her face slightly pale. Reaching up, Vinca felt her forehead frowning at how hot she was. He moved to the first aide kit that was under the kitchen sink. Pulling it out, he found the thermometer and getting the girl to sit he stuck it into her mouth. He waited, seeing Rainie had her eyes closed as she slumped against the table. Once done he checked it, glad to see it wasn’t as high as it felt.

  
“It’s not too high,” Vinca stated moving to rinse the thermometer before he picked up something that would bring her fever down. Giving it to her, he ran his hand through her dark hair. “You hungry at all?”

  
Rainie shook her head as she drank down the water with the pills.

  
“Head up back to bed, no school today even if you felt good,” Vinca nodded to the window, seeing Rainie’s eyes widen as the little girl looked out over the winter wonderland. But the girl wasn’t too interested and Vinca smiled as she headed back up the stairs. He turned when he heard the door open; he looked to see Cole was shaking snow from his person.

  
He smiled; glad the man was back inside. He watched as Cole pulled of his hat and gloves, the coat then his boots. Turning he walked back into the kitchen, heading towards the waffle iron. “Are you hungry?”

  
“I could eat, whatcha make?” Cole asked blowing on his hands; he smiled as he took the cup of coffee from Vinca.

  
“Waffles. How are the horses?” Vinca moved to stir the batter once more. He poured batter onto the hot iron and closed the lid, before he glanced back at Cole.

  
“Horses are fine, they’re good in the barn for today,” Cole stated sitting down at the table.

  
“Good, Rainie was done, her temp isn’t too high. I have her something for it and sent her back to bed,” Vinca bit his lip, glancing at Cole again before turning his attention back to the waffle.

  
“Thanks,” Cole took a deep breath, a grin finding his face as he inhaled the aroma of what was cooking. He watched as Vinca pulled out a plate as the boy pulled the perfect waffle off the iron.

“That’s amazing.”

  
“What is?” Vinca asked startled, he glanced around wondering what the man was talking about.

  
“Even my mother couldn’t make them perfect like that,” Cole grinned as the boy put the waffle down in front of him. He reached for the butter, shaking his head slightly as Vinca place warmed syrup down in front of him. “You’re going to spoil us.”

  
“I like to cook,” Vinca poured another batch into the waffle iron, smiled as he listened to it. He grabbed another plate as he moved to grab two glasses and pour orange juice. When his waffle was done, he carried it and the two glasses to the table.

  
“You also clean and do the laundry,” Cole pointed out, taking a drink of his orange juice.

  
“I haven’t found much else I can do,” Vinca shrugged as he poured syrup onto is waffle. “Rainie said she wasn’t hungry. I’ll check later to see if she wants some soup or something.”

  
“Okay,” Cole grinned, “And you take such good care of my daughter.”

  
“She’s easy to take care of, you’ve done a good job,” Vinca looked up before he moved to lick syrup from his fingers. He glanced up again to see Cole was watching him, the man’s eyes on his mouth. He saw the look in Cole’s eyes and suddenly another man sat across from him. A man that had made a lewd comment that had made him laugh, before he was chased upstairs by the man laughter following them.

  
“”Vinca?” Cole watched the boy finally focus on him.

  
“What?” Vinca inquired glancing around, he took a deep breath.

  
“Are you okay? You’re crying.” Cole reached out, wanting to touch the boy, but suddenly Vinca looked extremely fragile.

  
“Sorry,” Vinca moved to wipe his eyes. “I’m fine, honest.”

  
“Are you remembering something?” Cole wanted to know, but wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.

  
“I um…” Vinca looked up at Cole again, shaking his head he moved to pick up his plate. Taking it to the sink, he took a deep breath before turning to head out of the kitchen. “I’m going to go get dressed.”

  
Hurrying up the stairs, Vinca wrapped his arms around himself. He suddenly didn’t want to be stuck in the house with Cole. Something didn’t feel right, something felt off. He didn’t understand why the man looked at him that way. Going into his room, he pulled out his clothing to pull on.

  
Once done, Vinca returned to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway, letting his eyes scan the already clean kitchen. The waffle maker and batter had been put away; the dishes were in the dish rack. The table had been wiped down and everything else put away. He glanced towards the living room where he could hear Cole; he made his way to find the man was watching the weather.

  
“Is it going to bad?” Vinca asked softly.

  
“Nope, should clear up sometime tomorrow,” Cole looked over, seeing the boy standing there.

  
“Good,” Vinca moved into the room, his eyes on the TV as he sat down on the love seat. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much snow before.”

  
“Maybe,” Cole smiled, laughing when the boy looked at him dryly. “You’re so pale; I doubt you’re from somewhere warm.”

  
“I might be,” Vinca crossed his arms, his lips twitching in a smile.

  
XXXXX

  
“Are you ready?” Cole asked Vinca as the boy buckled his seat belt. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Cole figured the boy needed a few more clothes. He saw Vinca move to check Rainie’s seat belt. He started the truck, moving to put it into gear as he pulled it down the driveway. Turning on the radio, he saw Vinca raise his eyebrow as Cole’s choice of music.

  
“I just never took you for rock and roll,” Vinca shrugged before he looked out the window. He heard Cole laugh and turning he stuck his tongue out at the man.

  
“Oh, very mature,” Cole laughed shaking his head.

  
“I try,” Vinca said sassily, a grin on the boy’s face. Cole laughed again, like seeing how Vinca was starting to loosen up. He knew the boy had worried, when Rainie had gotten sick and they had been snowed in.

  
The rest of the drive was done in mostly silence, mostly just singing along with the radio. Vinca surprised them by knowing most of the words to the songs. Apparently, while the boy’s mind couldn’t remember him, it remembered songs and recipes. Cole shook his head, not sure if that was a good thing or not. He pulled his truck into a small second hand store, glancing over to see Vinca’s reaction.

  
“This place looks nice,” the boy said, moving to get out of the truck. Cole nodded, wanting to explain that he couldn’t afford a lot. He had to be able to pay the bills, but he’d had a few more sign on for his riding class. He followed Vinca and Rainie into the store, glad to see that it was clean.

  
He followed, listening to Rainie and Vinca discuss things they found. He felt out of place, he hated shopping and he was sure it showed in how he stood. When Vinca stopped to look through a rack he shifted his weight from foot to foot, seeing the boy look back at him.

  
“Something wrong?” Vinca inquired.

  
“No, of course not,” Cole answered looking around the store.

  
“You seem nervous,” Vinca laughed low, “Rainie does your daddy hate to shop?”

  
“Yeah!” the girl stressed, “Pa hates it, even school shopping.”

  
“I see,” Vinca shook his head; he moved to go back to the rack. It had been Cole’s idea to do this. Besides he was tired of wearing the same things all the time. He promised as soon as he knew who he was he’d paid the man back. Finding a pair of jeans he pulled them out and held them up. “What do you think?”

  
“They’re fine,” Cole muttered.

  
“I like them,” Rainie grinned up at the man. Vinca nodded, checking the price before moving on. He found a couple of really cheep jeans and a couple shirts.

  
“You should check for shoes,” Cole stated, he glanced over at the wall of shoes.

  
“My shoes are fine,” Vinca looked down at his feet. He was wearing a pair of tennis shoes, the only thing he had from when they found him.

  
“You really need a pair of boots,” Cole stated moving towards the wall, he knew that Vinca followed. He looked, finding a pair of pale yellow hiking boots and picking them up he turned to the boy.

  
“Cole,” Vinca started, but stopped at the man’s look.

  
“Its fine,” Cole said moving to take the small pile from Vinca. He stood watching the boy, waiting to see if Vinca was finished or not.

  
“I’m done,” Vinca stated returning the man’s stare. Cole nodded, he moved to the checkout seeing that Vinca and Rainie had moved towards the front of the store. He was paying the cashier when he looked up to see they were talking to someone, suddenly realizing they were taking to Emily.

  
“Shit,” Cole clinched his teeth, seeing the cashier raise an eyebrow before she turned.

  
“She’s a pushy bitch,” the girl said handing a bag to Cole.

  
“Yeah she is,” Cole nodded taking the bag as he headed out of the store. Slowing as he saw them turn to look at him. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  
“Well, I wondered why this pretty little girl looked so much like you,” Emily grinned up at him.

  
“My daughter, Rainie,” Cole stated handing the bag to Vinca; he didn’t take his eyes from Emily. “Vinca why don’t you take Rainie to the truck?”

  
“All right,” Vinca’s mouth turned down. It was like he and Rainie no longer existed now that the blond had shown up. Taking the girl’s hand he turned to the truck.

  
“What exactly are you doing?” Cole asked the teenager as he glared at her.

  
“Talking with your daughter and the little boy,” she put her hands on her hips to look up at him. “I mean, I want to see what my competition is.”

  
“Vinca isn’t competition,” Cole hissed low.

“Who said was I talking about him?” she laughed.

  
“Rainie is my daughter!” Cole took a step closer to her, he glared down at her. “I swear something like that comes out of your mouth again…”

  
“You’ve such the temper, are you this passionate in bed?” Emily laughed. Cole growled low, turning on his heals before he smacked the girl. Getting into the truck, he slammed the door and started it. When Vinca went to speak, the man just glared at him. The trip back was quiet and tense, Vinca wondered what had happened.

  
XXXXX

  
Vinca couldn’t find the courage to speak. After coming home, it was hard not to think of Cole’s house as home, he had made dinner and as they sat down, Vinca still couldn’t say anything. He didn’t know what happened with that woman, or why Cole had been so angry.

  
Cole had pretty much dropped them off and had retreated to the barn, leaving Vinca and Rainie confused. But the boy had managed to occupy himself and Rainie with making dinner. He hoped that a good meal would put Cole into a better mood. Anything, to get the man to stop glaring at everything.

  
“Who was that woman?” Rainie asked from where she was washing potatoes in the skin. Vinca shrugged, having only seen her once before.

  
“Someone that is taking lesson from your dad?” Vinca muttered glancing at her as he prepared a mixture to rub over the meat.

  
“She was nasty,” Rainie muttered softly.

  
“Rainie,” Vinca astonished, “you mustn’t speak of people like that.”

  
“Why?” the little girl asked setting another potato aside. He glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow when Vinca didn’t answer right away.

  
“Because… it’s rude,” Vinca finished lamely. The boy turned back to what he was doing, trying not to laugh when he heard the little girl snicker. He put the meat into a roaster and spreading the mixture on it; he put it in the oven before he poked the potatoes and put them in beside the roast. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard the door, knowing Cole had paused in the hallway to take off boots, coat and hat.

  
“Hey,” Cole stood in the doorway, his eyes going between Vinca and Rainie. “Rainie, do you have reading?”

  
“Yep,” Rainie dried her hands, moving across the kitchen towards her father. “Let me get my book.”

  
Cole watched her go, looking back to see Vinca was watching him. “Sorry about earlier.”

  
“Not a problem, thanks for the clothing,” Vinca moved to wipe down the counters, he heard Cole snort before the man turned to leave the kitchen. Vinca smiled, knowing that Cole would be good now, at least for the rest of tonight. Once done, he rinsed the cloth he used before drying his hand and heading into the living room where Cole and Rainie were curled up together.

  
Sitting down, he picked up a simple embroidery pattern that he had picked. He knew it wasn’t something men normally did, but he found it soothing for him. He started to rock in the chair, smiling as he listened. He knew Cole was good with Rianie; the man had indefinite patience when it came to the little girl.

  
Glancing up he saw Cole was watching him; the man’s green hazel eyes were beautiful in the dim light. He blushed slightly, even though it wasn’t the first time the man had looked at him like that. But each time, it seemed to get more intense. Looking back at what he was doing, Vinca made sure not to poke himself with the needle he was using.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

“No.” Cole didn’t look up from what he was doing.

“But Pa,” Rainie started her bottom lip sticking out.

“I said no, Rainie,” Cole looked up, his eyes drifting to the boy standing by the kitchen counter.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Vinca’s voice was soft, not sure if he should be putting his opinion in. but he had been there for nearly two months. “It’s a slumber party, every little girl has them.”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea,” Cole crossed his arms, glaring at Vinca only to see the boy roll his eyes and not back down.

“It’s not like it’s here, and you’ve met Shelly’s parents the other night,” Vinca pointed out.

Cole nodded; parents’ night had proven to be interesting. Having not wanted to leave Vinca alone, he had dragged the boy with. He had heard the snickers, the under the breath comments. How the woman has gushed over the short pale man. The men had slapped on the back, congratulating him on finding a mother for Rainie.

“Shelly’s mother seemed nice and responsible and it would be good for Rainie to get out with other kids,” Vinca pointed out, he watched Cole, knowing he was winning.

Cole scowled; he looked at the boy again. “I’m still her father.”

“Yes, Cole you are,” Vinca shook his head, turning to look out the window. “But it’s nice for her to spend time with her friends outside of school.”

“Please, daddy,” Rainie looked up at him, her lip protruding even more. Cole sighed, she didn’t call him daddy often and he really couldn’t resist when she did.

“All right, you can go,” Cole said, smiling as his daughter squealed before the girl was heading towards the phone. He looked over to see Vinca was smiling at him. He looked up when Rainie held out the phone to him and realized that he needed to speak with Shelly’s parents.

“Come help me pack?” Rainie asked Vinca, nodding Vinca followed the girl from the room. Entering Rainie’s room, he smiled as she dug out a pink suitcase from the closet. He moved to pull out under things, smiling as Rainie tossed jeans and shirts onto the bed. Shaking his head, he moved to fold each article of clothing before putting it into the suitcase.  
“Laura will be here shortly to pick you up,” Cole said as he appeared in the doorway.

“Get your toothbrush Rainie,” Vinca stood moving to the girl’s dresser to grab her brush and a couple of hair things. He put them in the suitcase, seeing Rainie come back with a brand new travel toothbrush and had to smile. “Anything else?”

“Georgie,” she grinned reaching up to grab a floppy stuffed dog. 

“That it?” Vinca saw the girl nod and with a smile he zipped up the suitcase. He glanced back at Cole, biting his bottom lip he tried to think of anything she’d need.

“Sleeping bag and pillow,” Cole seemed to read his mind. Rainie nodded, she went back to her closet and pulled out a sleeping bag and travel pillow. They headed back downstairs, Vinca still biting his lower lip, suddenly nervous about Rainie going. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” Vinca looked at him startled.

“Chewing your lip, it’s a wonder you haven’t chewed it off,” Cole poked the boy in his full bottom lip, a smile finding his face. He moved to head out to the porch to follow his daughter seeing that he was carrying the suitcase. He glanced back to see Vinca had stepped out, the boy going to sit on the porch swing.

Cole moved to sit down next to Vinca, his eyes going to where his daughter was sitting on the porch steps. He wanted to laugh, who knew Rainie would be so impatient? He glanced over to see Vinca was smiling too and suddenly he wanted to do something for the boy.

“How about I take you out tonight?” Cole asked.

“What?” Vinca’s eyes flew to him.

“I’ll take you out?” Cole questioned, raising an eyebrow at the boy. “You know, out to dinner and stuff.”

“Um… sure?” Vinca smiled unsure, but looked over as Rainie stood, the little girl bouncing with excitement. He could see a car pulling up towards them and watched as Cole walked down the stairs with his daughter. He wasn’t sure exactly what the night would entail but it would be a nice change. He waved to the woman as Rainie climbed into the backseat with a couple of other girls.

Cole walked back up onto the porch, sitting down beside the boy he saw Vinca was chewing his bottom lip again as the boy watched the car drive away. Leaning back, he set the swing in motion as he continued to watch the boy. He really wondered where Vinca would like to go.

“Where would you like to go?” Cole saw those eyes come to him, periwinkle blue; they reminded him of the summer flowers out in the pasture.

“I don’t know,” Vinca bit his lip, suddenly realizing what he was doing and blushed. “I should shower and change before we go.”

“If you want, we’ll take the mustang,” Cole smiled when he saw Vinca look at him again. The boy gave a small smile before he disappeared into the house. Closing his eyes, Cole leaned his head back to let the smile fade from his face. He needed to get out, needed to feel normal for the night. With a sigh he got up and headed into the house, he wanted to change into something else before leaving.

XXXXX

“Vinca come on,” Cole called out, tapping his foot as he glanced at the stairs again. He willed the boy to hurry up, his stomach growled again.

“I’m coming,” Vinca yell was followed by footsteps and then the boy was walking down the stairs. Cole stared; Vinca was wearing a pair of jeans he hadn’t seen before. They were tight, fitting Vinca’s figure prefect. The shirt was a button down blue one that nearly matched the boy’s eyes.

“You look nice,” he managed to get out, moving to open the door. He smiled at the look Vinca gave him, the boy grabbing a denim jacket before walking out. Cole laughed at the look on Vinca’s face; he had pulled the mustang out of the garage and had put the top down.

“Your not going to leave it down are you?” Vinca asked following him down. Cole just shrugged before he opened the passenger side door for him. Moving back to the other side, he slid behind the wheel, starting the car he looked over at the boy.

“Live a little, huh?” Cole put the car into drive and pulling out; he braked at the road slightly before he turned towards town. Vinca laughed, sitting back as cold wind whipped at him, putting color into his cheeks. Vinca found that he liked to ride with the top down, other then it was cold. He raised an eyebrow as Cole pulled the car into the parking lot of a bar.

 

“You think this is a good idea?” Vinca asked as the man put the top up, before shutting off the car.

“I grew up here, they all know me, you’re safe,” Cole got out, walking around to open Vinca’s door not sure if the boy would get out on his own. He led the way inside, grinning at the woman working.

“Why Cole Danner, I haven’t seen you in ages,” she grinned, her eyes going to Vinca. “Marti Barns.”

“Vinca,” the boy shook her hand. He saw the woman look at Cole, a raised eyebrow her only question before she smiled again.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” she said.

Cole followed the woman, seeing Vinca was looking around. “Don’t worry, you’ll like the food.”

“Okay,” Vinca smiled as he sat down, thanking the woman when she handed him a menu. He looked over, frowning when he saw they had a lot to offer. He almost missed when Cole ordered to beers; he looked over the top of his menu at the man. “Am I still ‘living a little’?” 

“Of course,” Cole leaned back, grinning at the boy again. He thanked the waitress that brought them the beer, he almost laughed at Vinca’s face when the boy took his first drink. They ordered their food, silence falling between them as Vinca looked out over the bar. “What do you think?”

“It’s neat,” Vinca replied smiling.

“I’m glad you like it, Marti bought it from her uncle, turning it really around,” Cole explained watching the boy. “I went to school with Marti.”

“See seems like a wonderful woman,” Vinca looked back at Cole. A small sad smile came to his face, he wondered why Cole hadn’t dated or found another nice woman to settle down with.

“Did she know your wife?”

“I was never married, Vinca,” Cole stated softly as he propped his elbows up on the table.

“Oh,” Vinca frowned looking down at the table top. Cole was about to speak, but looking up he saw the waitress bringing their food. He sat back, smiling at the woman as she set their meal down. “Well, this looks good and I didn’t have to cook.”

“Yeah, they got good food,” Cole dug in, watching Vinca for a second as the boy arranged things. After a second the boy took a bit, a smile lighting up his face. The meal proceeded with Vinca asking questions about horses the running of the ranch. Cole watched as the boy drank beer, making sure that he didn’t drink too much.

“That was really good,” Vinca sat back, his hand rubbing his flat stomach.

“You want dessert?” Cole inquired.

“No,” Vinca shook his head, black curls settled around the boy’s face. 

“Sure?” Cole raised an eyebrow as the boy shook his head. He looked over, smiling as he watched people start to fill the dance floor. “You want to dance?”

“I don’t know how,” Vinca shrugged as he watched the people dance. He could feel Cole watching him, but couldn’t pull away from the people.

“Want to learn?” Cole finally asked, after watching the boy for several long minutes.

“I um…” Vinca shrugged slightly, he did want to learn but didn’t want to make an ass out of himself.

“Come on, it’s easy,” Cole stood, moving to grab the boy’s hand. He pulled Vinca up, moving towards the dance floor. Vinca didn’t resist, he let Cole pull him onto the dance floor. He helped the boy, smiling as Vinca easily figured out the steps.

They soon lost themselves among the people on the dance floor, Vinca found himself dancing with a pretty blond girl, and he glanced behind him to see Cole had found himself a partner in the form of a tall brunette woman. He found much fun in line dancing, loving how the group moved together. He laughed, finding himself next to Cole; he reached up to grab the man’s shoulder.

“Having fun?” Cole asked as he shifted.

“I am,” Vinca smiled as the girl he had been dancing with came up to him. He stopped when the music slow, his eyes straying to Cole before he glanced at the girl. While it was okay to dance with her when the music was fast, he didn’t want to dance slow with her.

“Cole, dance with him,” the blond pushed Vinca gently towards the man. With a smile Cole reached for the boy, slowly pulling a reluctant Vinca into his arms.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” Cole looked down, seeing that the boy was looking down. “Vinca?”

“What?” Vinca didn’t look up, his eyes closed.

“Are you uncomfortable?” Cole asked; he pulled Vinca closer.

“No,” Vinca reached up, letting his arms wrap around Cole’s shoulders. It would seem that no one cared they were dancing together.

Cole smiled, he couldn’t resist the need to reach up and see if Vinca’s hair was as soft as it looked. He buried his fingers in the soft strands, letting his eyes close as he flexed his fingers.

XXXXX

Sheriff Randall Hackett walked into The Barn, letting his eyes scan the crowd. He was off duty looking to get something to eat. He stopped when he saw Cole Danner; the man was dancing with the little black haired boy. He was surprised to see Cole out with the kid, since Cole hadn't been out much since Rainie was born.

“Hey sheriff,” Marti grinned, having seen where the man was looking.

“That is Cole Danner I’m seeing right?” Randy asked. He shook his head, moving towards a table.

“That would be Cole,” she grinned as he sat down, moving to set a glass of water in front of him. “The boy he’s with, that’s that Vinca kid right?”

She saw the sheriff nod.

“Yeah, he’s cute,” Marti grinned. Her eyes going back to Cole and Vinca as she moved away. Randy made a nose, shaking his head as the woman walked away. Marti knew what he wanted; he’s been coming for the last five years. He let his gaze scan the bar again, nodding to those that acknowledged him.

He looked back at Cole, seeing the man had his hand buried in the boy’s hair. His eyes narrowed slightly as the man’s other hand inched towards the well rounded ass. He looked up as Marti brought him his diner, a frown on his face. “I’m surprised to see him out here after all these years.”

“I know, but maybe Vinca will be a good thing,” she stated.

“I figured after Kelly, he’d be a bit harder to get out,” Randy shifted his plate. 

“I know he thinks about Rainie a lot and doesn’t want her hurt,” Marti shook her head, her brunette hair falling around her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Randy started to eat. He kept his eyes scanning the room, pausing to talk to a few people that stopped by his table. Pushing his plate away, Randy grinned when Marti dropped a piece of chocolate cake off at his table. Taking a drink of his coffee, he dug into the cake.

Turning when he heard yelling, he found one woman was getting upset because Cole was blocking her access to Vinca. Pushing his half finished cake away he stood and made his way towards them. Cole had managed to get the boy backed against a wall; the man’s hand was once again buried in the boy’s hair.

“Cole,” Randy heard the low growl and shaking his head he took a step closer. “Cole.”

Cole turned, his eyes going to the man standing not far from him. “Hey sheriff.”

“Maybe you should let the boy away from the wall?” Randy suggested.

“No,” Cole’s voice dropped as the man took a step closer to the boy. “Every time I do, someone tries to touch him.”

“Cole,” Randy tried again, while he was sheriff he wasn’t sure he wanted to take the man on. Cole Danner was a big man. “How about you guys you know head home?”

“We should,” Vinca spoke; the boy’s soft voice startled the sheriff. “I’m done dancing.”

“Okay,” Cole pulled away, not removing his hand from the boy’s hair.

“Let him go, Cole,” the sheriff said softly. He saw the man look at him, a pout on his face as he pulled his fingers from the black strands. He watched as they got their coats, following them outside, a smile coming to his face when he saw the mustang. He looked up to see Cole was holding open the passenger side door for Vinca. “Man, it’s been years since I’ve seen Katie’s mustang.”

“Yeah, dug it out,” Cole moved around the car, he kept his eyes on Randy. He paused next to the slightly shorter man. “Are we going to have a problem?”

“Of course not,” Randy smiled shaking his head; he could see the boy watching them through the windshield. “I just don’t feel like toss people who get between you and him into jail.”

“Or me?” Cole smiled.

“Or you,” Randy shook his head, his gaze going back to Cole. “Just take the boy home, have fun.”

“Hum,” Cole made a noise as he turned and headed towards the car. He waved to the sheriff before climbing into the driver’s seat. Randy watched the car pull away, glancing back when he saw Marti step out the woman pulling her coat slightly closer around herself.

“You don’t think he’ll hurt him?” Randy asked watching the tail lights disappear into the night.

“No, I think Vinca will be gentle,” she grinned up at him, laughing at the look he gave her.

“I mean Cole,” Randy turned to walk back into the bar.

“No, I don’t think Cole will hurt him,” Marti sighed slightly. “He knows his strength and stuff.”

“I hope so, I may stop by in the morning to make sure they’re both still okay,” Randy muttered going back to his table.

XXXXX

Cole watched Vinca enter the house, his eyes drifting down to the boy’s ass. Shaking his head, he looked up as Vinca pulled the coat off, the boy’s bottom lip being worried between even white teeth. Something inside him snapped and moving toward Vinca he reached up to bury his hand in the boy’s hair. “Damn it, I told you to stop doing that.”

“Cole,” Vinca shivered as the man’s mouth found his ear. Cole groaned, shifting he pushed Vinca’ against the wall pulling a slight yelp from him.

“Need to,” Cole let his hand tighten as he shifted to find the boy’s lips. 

Vinca moaned, reaching up to grab the man’s shoulders. He followed the man’s lips when Cole pulled away only the hand in his hair stopping him. He wanted to whine Cole’s name, hell; he wanted Cole’s lips back on his. Letting his hands tighten in Cole’s shirt he pulled him close again.

“Vinca,” Cole muttered again full pouty lips. The boy made a small mewling sound, pulling back Cole looked at him one more time. “Maybe this isn’t…”

Reaching out, Vinca grabbed the man’s shirt and pulled. His eyes widened slightly before a smile found his face. “Oh, so that’s why your shirt has snaps.”

“Damn,” Cole watched as the boy’s hands touched his bare flesh. With a low growl he bent, throwing a startled Vinca over his shoulder. Turning he headed up the stairs, wanting to bite the ass that was right next to his head. He could feel Vinca struggling, the boy trying to wiggle away.

“Cole,” Vinca managed to slide down the man’s chest slightly. Moving, he latched his mouth onto the man’s neck to suck. 

Cole made his way to his room, his hands holding tight to the boy in his arms. Vinca had wrapped his limb around him, holding on. Pushing the door open, he kicked it shut before encouraging the boy to stand he pulled the shirt from Vinca’s body. He looked over pale skin before turning to work on the boy’s pants, pushing Vinca onto the bed. He let the boy push the shirt from his body.

Once he had Vinca naked, he got the boy into the bed. He couldn’t help but look, reaching up he let his fingers spread out to touch Vinca’s collar bone. He slowly slid his fingers down, letting them run over one pale dusky nipple. He watched it tighten under his hand. Moving down further, he let his middle finger dip into the boy’s belly button, he could see Vinca’s breathing had gotten quicker. 

“You’re beautiful,” Cole whispered as his forefinger found the boy’s happy trail, it made him very happy as he let his finger run down it, the side scraping along Vinca’s hard cock.

“You need to be naked,” Vinca let his eyes slide slightly shut. He watched as Cole moved off the bed, the man stripping the rest of his clothing off. A smile found his face as he let his eyes scan the well muscled man. Sitting up, he reached out to place his palms on Cole’s chest, letting his hands run up and down slightly.

“Vin,” Cole leaned moving to capture the boy’s lips in a deep kiss. He let his hands find the boy’s hips moving to sit himself on his knees between Vinca’s legs. Pushing the boy back, Cole brought his lips to Vinca’s neck, using his lips, teeth and tongue he moved towards Vinca’s shoulders.

“Oh…” Vinca let his head fall back, a moan escaping him.

“You like that?” Cole asked pulling back. He wanted to touch and lick every part of Vinca’s body. He scanned the slender body, his eyes pausing on the tattoo. He grabbed the boy’s leg, pulling it up off the bed to look closer at it. He let his fingers lightly run over it.

“Does it bother you?” Vinca asked; the boy’s hands holding onto the sheets.

“No, it’s interesting,” Cole let his fingers trace it up to where it stopped just before the boy’s knee. He shifted, dropping a kiss to the inside of Vinca’s knee. 

“Touch me,” Vinca whimpered watching the grin cross Cole’s face.

“I sometimes hear you,” Cole reached out to touch the tip of Vinca’s leaking cock. “I can hear you masturbating in the shower.”

“I um…” Vinca blushed, dropping his eyes down. He arched back as Cole wrapped his hand around his erection, looking back up at the man.

“It’s sexy,” Cole leaned leaving open mouth kisses on Vinca’s stomach as his hand started to stroke. “I’ve wanted to touch you for so long.”

“Cole,” Vinca muttered grabbing wide shoulders as he pulled his legs even further apart. He reached, touching what he could before running his hands to the man’s head to bury his slender fingers into light brown hair. He pulled, whimpering as he pulled Cole up. “Wanna feel you.”

“Vinca,” Cole grabbed the boy’s hip with one hand while his other tightens on Vinca’s cock. He let the boy control the kiss, opening his mouth to Vinca’s tongue. Sucking on it, he leaned a little more of his weight onto the boy. 

“Yes…” Vinca cried out as he moved to wrap his legs around Cole’s waist. He grabbed the man, his nails digging into the flesh on Cole’s back.

Cole closed his eyes, moving to suck on the boy’s shoulder. He started to thrust their bodies together, letting his cock slide against the boy’s. It had been so long, he was sure he wouldn’t last very long. Besides, Vinca felt so good in his arms that he couldn’t stop now if he wanted to. The low cries coming from the boy caused him to push down harder, groaning as Vinca’s nails dug in deeper.

“Please,” Vinca let his lips find Cole’s ear, licking along the shell before he pulled the lobe into his mouth. He tightened his legs, trying to push his body closer to Cole’s. “Wanna feel you!” 

Cole let his hands wonder, one burying in the boy’s hair while the other found Vinca’s ass. He cupped one cheek, letting his fingers dip into the boy’s crevice. “I don’t have the stuff.”

“Cole,” Vinca whined. “I don’t care.”

“I do,” Cole pushed down harder against the boy, scraping his cock hard against the boy’s. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Vinca shifted, working his hand in between their bodies. He slid his palm down the man’s muscled chest down his tight stomach until he could grab Cole’s cock. He felt the man jerk slightly, letting out a long low moan. He wrapped his hands around both cocks; he started to stroke against Cole’s thrusts.

“Gonna cum…” Vinca shifted another cry escaping him as he lost his rhythm. 

“Want to feel it,” Cole let his fingers run over the boy’s opening, another cry escaping the body under him. He could feel his own orgasm curling in his stomach. He knew that he was close, but wanted to feel Vinca cum first. He let his forefinger press against the boy’s opening.

“Cole!” Vinca cried out, his orgasm ripped through him. 

“That’s it,” Cole let go, his own orgasm slipped out of him. He could tell, as the boy slowly relaxed that Vinca wasn’t a stranger to anal sex. Keeping his weight off the boy, he looked down into Vinca’s face to see a smile on his face.

“That was wonderful,” Vinca pulled his hands out, seeing they were covered in their cum. He looked up, periwinkle eyes slightly darker with fading passion.

“We should shower,” Cole went to pull away, only find slender legs still locked around his waist. Pushing up he grinned as Vinca’s legs slid loose. “Then we can go it again, slower.”

“Okay,” Vinca got up, making sure not to touch anything with his hands.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Vinca shifted, rolling into the warm body. A smile came to his face as he buried his nose into the man’s chest. He wrapped one arm around the man before he whispered. “Dom.”

Vinca’s eyes flew open as he sat up; he glanced down to look at Cole. His heart was beating too fast. He saw the man’s eyes open, a frown coming to Cole’s face. “Dom?”

“Oh, God,” Vinca turned away, lying down on his side. He closed his eyes when he felt Cole’s arms come around him, tears slipping from his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Cole buried his face in the boy’s hair. He was glad now that he had decided not to penetrate him.

“He’s dead,” Vinca whispered reaching up to grab Cole’s hands before the man could let go.

“But… you remember?” Cole’s voice was quiet against the boy’s neck.

“No, not really; I just know he’s gone,” Vinca pulled his legs up, trying to curl in on himself.

“Maybe he’s not,” Cole tried not to let it hurt, “Maybe he’s out there looking for you.”

Vinca shook his head; he knew, deep in his heart that, that this Dom was gone. Dropping his head towards his chest, he felt tears gather in his eyes. “It’s the dream at night.”  
“What?” Cole tried to understand, but so far, Vinca wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. 

“I have this dream at night, the smell of gunpowder and blood,” Vinca whispered, sighing when he felt Cole curl around him. He kept his eyes closed as the man held him. “I know… I know it’s why I’m here.”

“Are you running?” Cole asked, knowing he’d protect the boy with everything he had. He felt Vinca nod slightly, a sob escaping him. “What are you running from?”

“I don’t know; it’s all hazy,” Vinca shifted, turning so he could bury his face in the man’s neck. Cole held the boy, whispering soothing words as he rubbed Vinca’s back. After a bit, he pulled back, shifting so he could look at the boy’s face.

“I have to take care of the horses,” Cole pulled away, leaning to drop a kiss to salty lips. 

“I can help,” Vinca offered looking up.

“No, you stay here, in bed,” Cole smiled; now that he had the boy in his bed, he was going to take advantage of it. He smiled as Vinca’s raised an eyebrow at him.

“All right,” Vinca shifted, watching as Cole rolled out of bed to dress in the dim light. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched the muscles flex as he moved. He looked up as the man came close, tilting his head up as Cole dropped a kiss to his lips. 

Vinca rolled to his side, pulling the covers close around himself as he let his mind drift. He didn’t know yet, couldn’t make sense of the things in his head. He didn’t know if they were memories or wishful thinking on his part. Last night had been familiar somewhat, being touched like that. Of holding on. He knew the man, with whom he had been before Cole, was dead. And he was afraid he may have had something to do with it.

XXXXX

Cole shifted looking over his shoulder as he heard the scraping of boots on the barn floor. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Randy standing there. “Hey, Sheriff.”

“Just Randy today, Cole; I’m not working,” Randy saw the man nod as Cole went back to tossing hay into one of the stalls. He glanced around, just to make sure Dragon’s Fire wasn’t lurking anywhere.

“He’s in the pasture,” Cole laughed when he saw Randy look back at him. “So what can I do for you?”

“Just thought I’d stop by, make sure you and the kid made it through the night,” Randy stated as Cole walked towards him. He saw the mark on the man’s jawline, knowing it wasn’t there when Cole left the bar the night before. “Kid’s got a set of teeth.”

“Yeah,” Cole shook his head. Stepping out of the barn, he saw lights on in the kitchen and could see Vinca moving around the room.

“You okay?” Randy stopped beside the man, his eyes going to the window Cole was looking at.

“You searched right? Made sure that he wasn’t wanted for anything right?” Cole’s voice was quiet as he glanced over at Randy.

“I searched every database that I have access to, Cole; the kid’s not out there,” Randy shrugged and sighing, he glanced over at Cole again.

“He’s running from something; he said something happened to his former lover, that the man was dead,” Cole took a step towards the house. “You want to come in for coffee?”

“Sure,” Randy followed Cole inside; he knew when he got to the office, he’d look into what Cole had said. Even so, he doubted that Vinca had anything to do with anyone’s death. Entering the house, he took a deep breath and stopped his eyes wide. “Wow, it smells great in here.”

“Yeah,” Cole grinned as he hung his hat up and shrugged his coat off. He saw Randy do the same, and turning, he walked into the kitchen to see Vinca moving around wearing a robe that was slightly too big for him. “Vinca, you remember Sheriff Randy Hackett.”

“Sheriff,” Vinca nodded slightly. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Sure,” Randy sat down, his eyes on the boy. He could see that Vinca was moving okay; the boy had a few marks, but nothing that would cause concern. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome; would you like to stay for breakfast?” Vinca glanced over at Cole as he got the man a cup of coffee. 

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Randy turned back to Cole, seeing the man was watching Vinca. He turned to also watch the boy, seeing Vinca was pulling something out of the oven. “It smells wonderful.”

“It’s an egg bake,” Vinca frowned slightly, “I found the recipe in the cookbook here.” 

“Ah,” Randy shook his head, his eyes widening when not only did Vinca bring plates of egg bake, he also brought cinnamon rolls and bacon. “This is quite the spread.”

“This is nothing,” Cole smiled as he reached for a piece of bacon. “You should see what he normally cooks.”

“Well, since Rainie isn’t here…” Vinca shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee. He smiled at Randy before he turned his attention to Cole. “The horses are good?”

“The horses are wonderful,” Cole returned as he started in on his meal. “Dragon’s Fire missed you this morning.”

“That horse is the devil,” Randy laughed at the look on Vinca’s face.

“Dragon’s Fire likes Vinca,” Cole pointed out, seeing Randy looking between them to see if Cole was kidding. He laughed, seeing Vinca also laughed leaving Randy with a smile as the man shook his head.

“This is really good,” Randy looked at Vinca to see the boy was watching Cole. “So…”

“Yeah, Randy came over to see if I had broken you or not,” Cole met Vinca’s eyes; he saw the surprise in them before the boy blushed.

“Well, I see,” Vinca looked over to see Randy staring at Cole wide-eyed. “As you can see, I’m just fine.”

“You are marked up,” Cole pointed out.

“I bit you pretty hard on your jaw,” Vinca looked over, a smile coming to his face as he watched Randy open and close his mouth several times.

“Jesus, Cole, it’s been a while since you’ve messed with me,” Randy laughed before taking a bite out of his roll. He knew he had to get going soon, but the kid made such wonderful food. He could see now why Cole was so adamant about keeping him.

“You’re the one that had come over,” Cole pointed out.

“I wanted to make sure you both were okay, considering,” Randy shrugged as he pushed his plate away. “That was wonderful, Vinca; thank you for the meal.”

“You’re welcome; I’m going to go get dressed,” Vinca stood.

“No,” Cole’s voice was low as he looked at the boy. “I’m sure Randy needs to be getting to work.”

“Yeah,” Randy stood; he knew that look and figured it was best that he went. He thanked them again for the meal and coffee before making his way out of the house.  
“Cole?” Vinca watched as the man stood.

“You were supposed to wait in bed,” Cole’s voice was still low, his eyes scanning Vinca’s body. He moved towards the boy, reaching out to grab Vinca’s wrist before pulling him towards the stairs and back to the bed.

XXXXX

“It’s easy; just like that,” Cole helped the boy saddle the horse. His class had just left, and Vinca had been right there. Since Rainie was due home from school soon, he figured he’d be unable to drag the boy back to bed. He watched as Vinca tightened the straps on the saddle, going behind to make sure they were tight. “Good, you did very well.”

“Thanks,” Vinca looked over, a smile on full lips.

“Ready for the next step?” Cole asked letting his hand slide over the boy’s ass.

“Sure,” Vinca glanced back, watching the man.

“Take it off,” Cole said softly his voice dropping.

“Take what off?” the boy looked startled. He watched as the slow smile crossed Cole’s face.

“The saddle, Vinca,” Cole pointed out watching the boy blush. Laughing, he watched as Vinca worked on taking the saddle off the same horse he had just put it on. Nodding he smiled, seeing Vinca swing the saddle down to put it over the hay bale. “Bus is here.”

“Good,” Vinca smiled; he dropped a kiss on Cole’s cheek before heading out of the barn. He walked towards the road; he was excited that Rainie was home. He stood waiting until the bus stopped and Rainie came bouncing off.

“Vinca!” Rainie threw her arms around the boy, smiling up at him as she started to babble about her day. Vinca wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders and steered her towards the house. He glanced back to see Cole crossing the yard heading to the house, too.

“I made cocoa,” Vinca called out over his shoulder a smile on his face. Entering the house, he guided the girl into the kitchen before letting her go and heading towards the stove. He poured three cups of cocoa before going back to the table to set them down. “So how was your test?” 

“Good, thanks for the help,” Rainie grinned as she sipped the cocoa. He looked up as Cole entered the kitchen, the man sliding into a kitchen chair.

“How was school?” Cole asked his daughter with a smile. He took a sip of cocoa as he listened to the girl speak about her day. He looked at Vinca, seeing the boy was shaking his head slightly. “You have homework?”

“Just reading,” she stated looking at Vinca before turning back to her father. “Can I read to both of you?”

“Of course you can,” Cole grinned as he leaned back in his chair. He glanced around his kitchen, seeing the small things that Vinca had changed, little things that made his home a little warmer. Looking back at the Vinca, he felt a slight panic at the thought of Vinca leaving them someday.

XXXXX

Cole walked up the stairs, and he saw Vinca standing in the hallway. The boy was chewing his lower lip, and Cole wanted to suck it into his mouth. “Vinca?”

“I um… I’m heading to bed,” the boy shrugged slightly.

“Well, I’m going to take a shower; go inside, okay?” Cole watched as Vinca took a step towards his room only to stop again. The boy’s eyes came back to him, large blue eyes wide with uncertainty. “You don’t have to, you know.”

“I want to, but do you?” Vinca sounded so uncertain that it nearly broke Cole’s heart. Crossing the space between them, Cole drew the boy into his arms.

“Of course I do,” Cole whispered against the boy’s ear. “So go into my room, and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay,” Vinca moved towards the man’s bedroom, glancing back to see Cole watching him. 

“Go on,” Cole waited until he saw Vinca disappear behind his door. Turning, he headed into the bathroom, taking a deep breath when he realized the boy had showered not too long beforehand. Stripping his clothing off, he moved to turn the shower on.

Cole stepped into the flow of the water; he wasn’t sure how to take the boy. The night before, Vinca had slept in his own bed, but now the boy was back in his. He thought maybe it had something to do with Rainie, that with the little girl back in the house, Vinca was pulling away. Maybe it did have something to do with his daughter, but he wouldn’t know until he asked.  
As Cole finished his shower, he tried not to let thoughts of the boy cloud his mind; he knew if he thought too much, he wouldn’t be making it to the room for a while. Drying off, he pulled on his boxers and jeans before heading back to his room. He paused in the doorway when he saw Vinca was curled up; the boy glanced back at him, blue eyes bright.

“We don’t have to do this,” Cole said as he shed his clothing; he climbed into the bed as he moved towards the boy.

“I want to,” Vinca shrugged as he leaned back. Reaching up, he touched Cole’s bare shoulder. “Please, I want to.”

“Okay,” Cole leaned over the boy to drop a kiss onto the boy’s mouth. Pulling the covers down, he pulled his mouth away to drop kisses to newly uncovered flesh. He looked up when Vinca made a noise; he saw the Vinca was watching him. “Vinca?”

“It’s just…” the boy blushed slightly and he looked away.

“It’s just what?” Cole asked softly pulling back. He watched as the boy shook his head slightly, and Cole wondered if he had maybe misunderstood things. “You were okay with this yesterday morning.”

“I um… It’s just that yes… yesterday, you were… um… you were,” Vinca shrugged slightly; he looked back at Cole as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Man, I really wish you’d stop that,” Cole muttered leaning to kiss the boy, thus drawing that plump bottom lip away from even white teeth.

“See,” Vinca’s lips moved against his when the boy spoke. Pulling back slightly, Cole raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Is there something wrong with how I make love?” Cole inquired watching the boy turn red again. “Vinca, talk to me please?”

Vinca glanced over as Cole got under the blankets next to him. “Yesterday was so overwhelming; I wasn’t thinking.”

“And now you are?” Cole tilted his head slightly as he watched the boy. Reaching out, he traced the mark on Vinca’s shoulder he had left the day before.

“I don’t want you doing this because you’re lonely or because I’m here,” Vinca shifted. Pulling his legs up, he wrapped his arms around his knees. 

“That’s not the reason at all,” Cole frowned slightly as he glanced over at the boy. He was worried again, not sure if he should send Vinca back to his room and talk about this in the morning or not. “Is this because of Rainie?”

“Sort of,” Vinca sighed and leaned back. “I worry about you and her mother…”

Cole frowned; reaching up, he touched the boy, wondering if he should tell Vinca about Kelly or not. Shaking his head, he wrapped arms around the boy and moved to lay them down. He could at least hold Vinca for the night, and they could deal with everything else later.

“Cole?” Vinca whispered as the man put the light out.

“Go to sleep,” Cole whispered dropping a kiss on the boy’s forehead before he closed his eyes.

XXXXX

Vinca glanced up before he looked at the paper in his hand. He had offered to go to the farmer’s market, so he had taken the Mustang and ventured into town on his own. Cole had told him to look around, get a sense of the place. So he walked down the sidewalk, looking at shops and places. Stopping in front of a little antique shop, he reached to touch the glass. He was startled when he saw a person behind him and turning, he looked at her.

“Why it’s little old Vinca,” Emily grinned down at him.

“Ma’am,” Vinca nodded and moved to walk away, only to have the girl step in front of him. “Excuse me.”

“You still staying out there with Cole and Rainie?” she asked, following after him when he walked away. 

“I am, but I’m not sure how it’s any of your business,” Vinca glanced over, stopping when the woman grinned at him. “What is it exactly you wanted?”

“You seem close to his daughter,” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“I like her; she’s a very special little girl,” Vinca frowned. “You don’t seem all that good around kids.”

“Kids are kids; they belong in special schools,” Emily grinned. “I know a good boarding school, one that I think Rainie would like.”

“Like Cole would let you send his little girl away,” Vinca turned slightly, trying to get away from the woman. He regretted now not going directly to the farmer’s market.

“Won’t matter since I’d be willing to take him… even considering his daughter’s parentage.” Emily could see the boy looked confused. 

"What's that supposed to mean? What do you have against Rainie's parents?" Vinca glared at the woman; he really didn’t like the smug look on her face.

“Her parents, yes, Cole and Katie,” Emily spit the name; Vinca frowned slightly, having heard that name somewhere before.

“Katie?” Vinca was frowning again.

“Cole’s sister, Rainie’s mother,” Emily watched as the color faded from the boy’s face. A smile came to her face as she watched the puzzle pieces click together for the boy.

“That’s not…” Vinca was shaking his head; he took a step back from the teenager. He couldn’t even look at her if what she said was true. Turning, he walked away; he could hear her laughter behind him. He found his way to the farmer’s market. He tried not to think about what she had said.

Entering the market, he wandered up and down the area, looking at things but not really seeing anything. He felt numb, not really believing what the woman had said. He paused in front of a stand selling vegetables, knowing that he needed some things, but his mind was completely blank.

“Vinca?” Turning, the boy looked up to see Randy behind him.

“Sheriff,” Vinca muttered before he turned back to the vegetables with a frown.

“Something wrong with the veggies?” Randy asked looking around for Cole. When he didn’t find the man, he looked back down at the black-haired boy.

“What was Cole’s sister’s name?” Vinca asked, figuring if he had come out to check them, then he would be Cole’s friend.

“Katherine,” Randy frowned down at him. “Most called her Katie.”

“Oh,” Vinca felt nauseous; closing his eyes he took a deep breath through his nose. “They were close?” he asked, saying a little prayer that he said they weren’t.

“Sure, Cole thought the sun rose and set with his big sister,” Randy moved so he could look at the boy’s face; he could see Vinca looked a little green. 

“How’d she die?” Vinca looked up, his periwinkle eyes standing out against pale skin.

“She got really sick after Rainie was born,” Randy frowned; he knew it had hurt Cole when Katie had died. “Doc couldn’t do anything for her.” 

“Oh…” Vinca’s heart chose that moment to break; he had thought he had found someplace he could belong. But now, just the thought made him nauseous.

“Katie was the only thing Cole had left other than Rainie, and she was just a little scrap of flesh then,” Randy looked down to see the boy was shaking his head. “Didn’t Cole tell you any of this?”

“I have to go,” Vinca walked away. He could hear Randy calling out to him, but he put the man from his mind. There was no way, no way he could look at Cole the same again. Getting back to the car, he stared at it. It had been Katie’s car, and for a second Vinca thought he was going to be sick. Taking a deep breath, he got into the car and made his way back towards the ranch.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Vinca knew he had been mean to Rainie, he had thought he’d be able to deal with the girl, it wasn’t her fault. But he had barely been able to let the child hug him. He had tried, so hard to make the ugly thoughts in his head go away. He had sent the girl into the living room while he worked on dinner. He didn’t even react when Cole came into the house, the man going for the pot of coffee.

“Hey,” Cole said, leaning against the counter to watch him. “You didn’t get anything at the market?”

“No… nothing looked good,” Vinca shrugged as he shifted away. He didn’t look at Cole, trying to concentrate on the roast he was getting ready to put in the oven. He was surprised when he felt arms wrap around him, his body stiffening. He jerked violently as he felt a warm wet tongue on his neck. Turning he pushed Cole away, his eyes wide. “Don’t you touch me!”

“Vinca?” Cole held his hands up palm out. “Put the knife down.”

“Just stay away from me,” Vinca hissed out tears slipping down his cheeks.

“Jesus Vinca, what the hell?” Cole dropped his arms, his eyes narrowed at the boy standing in his kitchen holding a knife. “Put down the fucking knife.”

Vinca turned back to the counter and set the knife down. He rested his hands on it and leaned forward as he tried to get his breathing back under control. When he heard Cole move he tensed figuring the man was seconds away from throwing him out the door.

“I’m leaving in the morning,” Vinca’s voice was tight.

“Do you remember?” Cole asked, wanting to know what had brought out the reaction. He glanced over to see Rainie standing in the doorway. “Go play in your room, honey.”

“Okay Dad,” the girl turned and left the room.

“Oh god,” Vinca turned away his legs felt weak.

“Vinca?” Cole took a step towards the boy, suddenly concerned. He was close to calling Rainie back down so they could take Vinca to the ER.

“Please don’t touch me,” Vinca scooted away to curl in on himself. A laugh wanted to bubble up from inside, some crazy part of his mind thinking this was a time to laugh. “I um… I need to shower.”

“Vinca,” Cole watched as the boy stood, seeing Vinca motion towards the half-prepared meal.

“You should put that in the oven,” Vinca muttered before he bolted from the room. He took the steps two at a time and once in the bathroom he finally took a breath. Starting the shower, Vinca pulled off his clothing before he stepped into the shower. Standing for several seconds before the tears came again and he slid down the wall.

Leaning, he couldn’t believe it. He had thought he’d be able to handle it, he knew things like this happened. He just hadn’t ever thought he’d be facing it. He let the water wash over him, realizing now that leaving was his only choice when it came to this. Tilting his head down, he let the water wash away the tears.

XXXXX

Cole glanced over at Rainie seeing the girl was only picking at her dinner. He glanced over at the empty chair and plate, the one that Vinca should have been sitting in. but after the boy had taken nearly an hour shower he had disappeared into his room. Now Cole and Rainie were getting a taste of what it would be like when the boy was gone.

“Eat Rainie,” Cole said softly, his voice held no real authority though.

  
“What’s wrong with Vinca?” she asked softly not looking up at her father.

  
“I don’t know,” Cole replied; he had knocked on the boy’s door, only to be told to go away. After that, he figured he’d leave the boy alone until later. He knew that whatever it was, they’d have to talk about it, or he’d be watching Vinca walk away.

  
After the meal had ended, Cole cleaned up the kitchen while Rainie read from her book out loud. Cole had realized that the little girl didn’t want to be alone. Which he could understand, he didn’t want to be alone either at the moment. He glanced over when Rainie paused, the girl frowning down at the book.

  
“Sound it out,” Cole turned back to the dishes. He smiled as Rainie sounded out the word, the little girl reading again. He tilted his head as he finished up to see if he could hear any noise coming from Vinca’s room. But he didn’t see the boy or hear him; whipping his hands dry he joined his daughter at the table.

  
“How was that?” Rainie asked glancing over, she saw her father staring out the window.

  
“You were wonderful,” Cole grinned as he moved to check over her work before signing her school slip. “Go up and get your bath.”

  
“Okay,” Rainie stood and putting everything back into her backpack, she headed out of the kitchen. Cole took a deep breath, leaning back to close his eyes. He wondered how his life could have spiraled so out of control in so little time. It had been just under two months.

  
Once he had finished the kitchen, he moved to the living room to turn on the TV and watch the evening news. Cole settled back into his chair, he flipped channels while he waited for the news to start. He didn’t watch much TV, normally just the news and sometimes with Rainie.

  
He glanced up when Rainie joined him, the little girl curling into the chair with him as she handed him her hairbrush. Cole kept his eyes on the TV as he brushed out Rainie’s shoulder length brown hair. He knew it was her way of calming down when she was upset. He would brush her hair, it relaxed her.

  
“Did we do something wrong, Dad?” Rainie asked softly.

  
“No, honey, we didn’t do anything,” Cole set the brush down and snuggled his daughter closer. He rested his head against the little girl’s head. “Vinca is just having a bad day.”

  
“So he’ll be okay tomorrow?” Rainie sounded miserable and it broke Cole’s heart. “He didn’t hug me after school.”

  
“Oh, sweetheart,” Cole cooed, he knew that Rainie had trouble getting close to people. He was sure it was an extension of his difficulty too. He held her, his mind trying to figure out what happened in the time Vinca went from here to town and back. After the news, Cole realized the little girl was asleep; he carried her up the stairs and tucked her into bed.

  
Going back down; he turned off the lights in the living room and turned the TV way down. He knew he wouldn’t be getting that much sleep, dropping back down into a chair he let his eyes focus on the quiet TV. Cole shifted leaning down in the chair with a sigh.

  
Shifting again, he glanced up when he heard soft footfalls on the stairs. He figured it would be Rainie, the little girl most likely having trouble sleeping. When he saw Vinca pause in the doorway, the boy’s eyes widened as they stared at him. He could see the boy open and close his mouth several times. “I figured you’d be sleeping already.”

  
“Not really tired,” Cole shrugged slightly. “You wanna tell me what happened today?”

  
“What makes you think something happened?” Vinca asked moving towards the kitchen, he knew Cole followed him. He moved to get a drink of water, sighing in relief when Cole paused by the door.

  
“You suddenly act as if my daughter and I have some sort of plague,” Cole shrugged, “it makes me believe something happened.”

  
“I um…” Vinca trailed off, not sure what to tell the man. How do you tell someone you knew they had gotten their own sister pregnant and the proof was upstairs sleeping?

  
“You owe me that much at least, I took you into my home and fed and clothed you,” Cole tried to keep his voice even, but he only managed to spit out what he had said. It was hard not to be angry about it.

  
“That’s not fair,” Vinca turned to glare at him.

  
“And what you did today was?” Cole inquired crossing his arms over his chest. “If you’re leaving in the morning, I want to know what happened.”

  
“I don’t care,” Vinca turned away, jumping when he heard Cole bang the wall. Turning back, he watched as the man glared at him.

  
“Damn it, I want to fucking know!” Cole yelled letting his anger get the best of him. He hated it when people avoided things that were unpleasant.

  
“I know who Rainie’s mother is!” Vinca yelled back, he watched as Cole shrugged, the man waiting. “You had a child with your own sister.”

  
“What?” Cole frowned staring wide-eyed at the boy.

  
“Emily told me, but I didn’t believe it until I talked to Randy, I know what you did,” Vinca wrapped his arms around his waist. He wanted Cole to hold him, wanted to go back to the way it was before.

  
Cole laughed, he couldn’t help it. It was either that or start throwing things. He couldn’t believe that Vinca believed that and wondered what exactly Randy had told the boy. “What exactly did Randy tell you?”

  
“That you and your sister were close, that you thought the sun rose and set with her,” Vinca’s eyes were wide as he watched the man.

  
“I did, she was a beautiful person,” Cole explained softly. “She was smart and funny and about the nicest person, you’d ever meet. She was the type that would give you the shirt off her back.”

  
“But… but you shouldn’t…” Vinca shrugged again watching him.

  
“I’m not Rainie’s father,” Cole said very softly, as he dropped his eyes.

  
“You’re not?” Vinca wrapped his arms around himself; he leaned back against the counter.

  
“My sister showed up, just before Rainie was born,” Cole moved to sit down at the table, realizing now this could have been avoided if he had explained earlier. But he didn’t think Emily would stoop so low to say something like this. “She was hurting, the man that had gotten her pregnant had died of a drug overdose, and she needed a safe place to lick her wounds. Kelly hated that she was here, he used to yell at me about it.”

  
“But she was your sister,” Vinca moved to sit across from the man. He should tell Cole that the story didn’t matter; he had destroyed whatever fragile relationship they had been working on starting.

  
“Yes, but he was my lover and figured he should be first in my life,” Cole replied looking up. “And he was, but Katie was my sister. Then Rainie was born, and Kelly hated having a baby in the house. So when Katie got sick and died, he realized that I wouldn’t be giving up Katie’s daughter, he left.”

  
“He left?” Vinca couldn’t understand how any man could walk away.

  
“He didn’t want children, didn’t understand why I would just put Rainie up for adoption and walk away,” Cole laughed humorlessly. “He wanted us to get back to our lives.”

  
“He was stupid,” Vinca muttered playing with his hands on the table.

  
“She was only two months old, she was just so tiny,” Cole whispered softly shaking his head. “The thought of giving away the last of my family broke my heart.”

  
“I’m sorry,” Vinca felt tears slip from his eyes. “I’ll be gone tomorrow.”

  
“I don’t want you to,” Cole looked up, “Rainie doesn’t know, she thinks I’m her father, she doesn’t know Katie was her mother.”

  
“Why?” Vinca asked.

  
“It was easier, to let her thank that,” Cole shrugged again. “She wouldn’t understand and by the time she was starting school she was already calling me Dad.”

  
“I’m sorry,” Vinca repeated shaking his head, “I should have talked to you when I got back.”

  
Cole shrugged, finding that he was unbelievably tired. Pushing away, he stood and turned to leave the kitchen. He paused to look back at Vinca, where the boy was sitting at the table. He wasn’t sure what else to say, he couldn’t think of anything. It was a shame that all this happened because of a misunderstanding. He didn’t know if the boy would be there in the morning or not.

  
XXXXX

  
Cole walked down into the kitchen, he saw there was fresh coffee brewing but didn’t see Vinca any place. He hadn’t slept all that well, knowing that he’d have to talk with Randy, to find out exactly what the man said. He didn’t care about Emily, whatever she said wasn’t the issue even though it had started all this.

  
“Morning,” Cole turned from pouring coffee to look at Vinca, the boy was standing in the doorway wearing the jeans and shirt he had been sent home from the hospital in. he took a sip while he watched Vinca play with the hem of his shirt. “I um… I wasn’t sure you’d still want me here.”

  
“You’re fine,” Cole shrugged not able to deal with it right now. He had to get his horses taken care of and get his daughter up. He could see the bags under Vinca’s eyes, knew the boy hadn’t slept much. “I have to take care of the horses before I get Rainie up and ready for school.”

  
“Okay,” Vinca nodded, the boy knew that meant he was to stay away from the girl. Cole watched the boy retreat, knowing that right now he didn’t want Vinca around his daughter. Turning, he put the coffee down and headed out to start his day.

  
He got the horses headed out to the pasture, his eyes scanning the darkening sky. He knew that the horses couldn’t be left out for long; it looked like a storm was brewing. Working quickly through the barn, he kept his eyes on Dragon’s Fire, seeing the horse was just outside the barn watching his herd.

  
Finishing up in the barn, Cole returned to the house, finding a cold empty kitchen waiting for him. He headed up to Rainie’s room, opening the door he crossed to his daughter and shook her awake. “Come on, sweetheart, you have to get ready for school.”

  
The little girl muttered as she rolled and opened her eyes. Reaching up, Rainie rubbed her eyes as she looked around. Looking up her mouth turned down. “Did he go away?”

  
“No, he’s still in his room,” Cole pulled away, he moved towards the door. “Hurry up, I’m making breakfast.”

  
“Okay,” Rainie got up, her eyes watching as her father left the room.

  
Cole moved back to the kitchen, looking around he felt slightly lost in the room. He hadn’t made a meal since the day he had brought Vinca into their lives. With a sigh, he moved to make the one thing he knew he could, French toast, reaching for Vinca’s fresh bread he paused before he finished reaching for it.

  
Cutting up the bread he moved to make the egg mixture to dip it in. As he was waiting for the griddle to heat he took a deep breath and tried to let the anger go. He wasn’t really angry at Vinca so to speak, other then the fact the boy had hurt his daughter. It was just so hard to wrap his mind around, to think that Vinca would have thought that of him.

  
He jerked when he heard Rainie come into the kitchen. Shaking his head, he went about making the French toast. He put some onto a plate and set it down in front of Rainie, smiling as he went to get the syrup out of the cupboard. Returning to the table, he handed it to Rainie.

  
He joined her at the table, resting his chin on his hands. He couldn’t seem to keep his mind from wandering. He wanted so much to go upstairs and pull Vinca into his arms, to hold the boy. With a sigh, he got up moving to the front closet and pulled out Rainie’s umbrella and rain jacket. He smiled, remembering sitting in the hospital on that rainy June day when Katie had that little girl. The name had seen to fit the little baby that stopped crying when the rain got heavy.

  
“Dad?” Cole looked over, a smile on his face.

  
“It’s gonna rain today,” Cole held out the rain jacket and umbrella, he checked the time to see it was nearly time for the bus. Picking up her backpack, he followed her out the door, looking up to see Vinca was standing in the upstairs window. He walked the girl to the road, standing there with her as they waited for the bus.

  
He waved to the bus driver and Rainie as the bus pulled away. Turning, he glanced up at the sky again before he headed back to the house. He knew it was time to have a talk with Vinca to see if they could move on from this. Entering the house, he called the boy’s name from the bottom of the staircase.

  
“What?” Vinca inquired from the top.

  
“I want to talk to you,” Cole saw the boy nod.

  
“I just have to finish packing,” Vinca disappeared down the hallway. Cole stared for a second before he was taking the steps two at a time. Entering Vinca’s room without asking his eyes widened as he watched the boy pushing clothing into a plastic bag.

  
“What the hell are you doing?” Cole demanded as Vinca looked up at him.

  
“Packing,” Vinca frowned, “I figured now that Rai… your daughter is off at school, you could take me to town.”

  
“I’m not taking you to town,” Cole hissed.

  
“Or I could walk,” Vinca shrugged, moving to close the bag. He glanced at Cole before sitting down gently on the bed he had already made. He had put everything back the way he had found it, the room showed no signs that he had been there.

  
“You’re not walking,” Cole took a deep breath before he moved to lean against the dresser. “I don’t want you to leave, but I just can’t wrap my mind around how you would think this of me?”  
“Rainie looks so much like you, she calls you Dad and all that,” Vinca shrugged folding his hands into his lap. “When they said Katie was your sister and you and she were Rainie’s parents I figured it was…”

  
“True? Because of what a jealous nasty little teenager said?” Cole demanded.

  
“I thought… well up until the night at the bar, I figured you were missing Rainie’s mother, who I thought had been your wife, and that you were interested in Emily,” Vinca shrugged, he was tired and really didn’t want to deal with this. He had had a headache since last night and all he wanted to do was find a place to rest his head.

  
“But you didn’t ask,” Cole muttered seeing those eyes come to him.

  
“What was I suppose to ask Cole? Come and say, hey funny thing I heard at the market today, someone said you got your sister pregnant?” Vinca demanded.

  
“I really like you,” Cole sighed, “but then again, I loved Kelly and he walked away because of this.”

  
“I’m not walking away because of you and your daughter!” Vinca stood glaring at the man. “I would give all that I have to stay here with you and Rainie.”

  
“So do it then,” Cole challenged meeting the boy’s glare.

  
“Fine!” Vinca hissed, “What do you want me to give up? The memories I don’t have or the other things I can’t remember?”

  
“I want you to stay!” Cole took a step towards him.

  
“What?” Vinca’s voice was soft as he looked up at him.

  
“I want you to stay, please Vinca?” Cole whispered reaching out to touch him. “I’ll give you anything if you just stay.”

  
“You don’t have to give me anything,” Vinca smiled, taking a step to tilt his cheek into Cole’s hand. “I thought I had ruined everything.”

  
“Nothing you can say would ruin this,” Cole smiled stepping closer to the boy, but at Vinca’s next words he felt his blood run cold.

  
“I killed Dom.”


End file.
